Learning To Love Him — A Lily & James Tale
by xX-T.Luv-Xx
Summary: Lily Evans and James Potter came from two completely different worlds. He was an arrogant troublemaker without a care, she was a smart muggleborn with her own problems to deal with. How did they fall in love? How could anyone consider the two meant to be? Covers their first year at Hogwarts to slightly after their deaths. Friendship, romance, humor, drama, Sirius Black, and more!
1. Hi, I'm James

**Well, hiya! Here's Chapter 1! I don't really know what to say about this chapter except: Enjoy!**

** Disclaimer: If I owned the rights to Harry Potter, my name would be JK Rowling. But I'm not. At any rate, anything you can find either on the Harry Potter Wiki or the seven Harry Potter books just assume it isn't mine. Otherwise, yeah, I came up with it.**

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Lily's POV:

"You're Lily Evans."

I glanced up from the book I was reading to see who was talking to me. When I saw, I frowned and returned to my book.

"Am I? I hadn't noticed."

The boy grinned. "Saw you during the Sorting, that's how I knew your name."

"Did you now?"

"Your boyfriend didn't look too pleased when you got sorted in Gryffindor. I don't see why—"

"Severus is not my boyfriend, for your information."

The boy grinned. "Could've fooled me. Anyways, I'm James Potter. This here's—"

"Sirius Black," I finished for him, slightly irritated. Why couldn't he understand I just wanted to read my book and be left alone?

James, though, didn't seem done. "How'd you know Sirius's name?"

"Same way you knew mine. Now, if you don't mind,I'd like to read my—"

"Is that _Hogwarts: A History_?" Sirius asked, staring at the book in my hands. "That book's boring, I don't know why you'd read it."

I glared at him. "Well, actually, I find it's a fascinating book. Did you know that you can't Apparate on school grounds?"

Sirius rolls his eyes. "Who cares?"

James nudged him. "Actually, that's some good stuff. Means that if I wanted to Apparate to make a quick getaway, I couldn't, isn't that right, mate?"

I spoke before Sirius could respond. "Please. It also says in here that you're not allowed to Apparate until you're seventeen, and that without the proper training, you could splinch. And _anyways_, why would you want to make a quick getaway?"

He grinned yet again. "Why Evans, I intend on making a name for myself. We only have seven years here, I want to make the name James Potter is never forgotten."

Sirius nodded. "Same 'ere. I don't want to be remembered for being the son of that hag of a mother."

I groaned. "Will you two just leave me alone? I'm trying to read, in case you haven't noticed!"

A smirk grew on James's face. "Oh, I noticed. I just thought a pretty face like yours would want to do something more fun than read."

I growled, and threatened to throw the book at him. But his smirk just grew all the wider. "See ya later, Evans!"

When he was gone, I groaned in exasperation. It was my first day here at Hogwarts, and so far, those two boys, especially Potter, have done everything to ruin it for me.

First, in the compartments on the way here, they had made fun of my best friend and interrupted our conversation. Then, at the dinner table, he had cast a spell on my goblet making it so that every time I tried to pour something into it, it all just spilled out immediately, as if there was an invisible lid. I ended up resorting to pouring the drink straight into my mouth, earning a disapproving look from Professor McGonagall so soon in the year. And then there was this.

I sighed. It was getting too late to read. I carefully slipped a bookmark in between the pages on the book, and slipped it into my bags. I didn't want to be late on my first day of classes, after all.

Once everything was out away, I slid out of the comfy chair in the Gryffindor common room. By now, I was the only one left, so I got a chance to look around without all the hustling and bustling.

There were several comfy chairs and sofas, a wide crackling fireplace, and lots of gold and scarlet everywhere. I made up my mind that it was a comfortable, warm room.

I thought about Severus Snape, and how he was in Slytherin. I wondered if the Slytherin common room was as welcoming to him as this one was to me. I supposed I could ask him about it later.

I made my way up to the first years' girls' dormitories, and found that there were six beds in there, only one left unoccupied.

I dropped my bag into the empty bed, and the girl on the bed next to mine climbed over and sat on it.

"Hi, there, what's your name? My name's Mary McDonald, what's yours? Are your parents Muggles or wizards? Mine are Muggles. It was so exciting finding out at I was a witch, it explained everything. But it did come as a huge surprise, after all, especially when my father said he didn't believe it, and Professor Sughhorn, who's supposed to be Potions Master, made all the furniture levitate. My father nearly went nuts, thought he'd gone mad! Are you excited for Potions? It sounds like such a neat class, but I'm afraid I'll be horrid at it. Well, I s'pose we'll find out when we get to class, huh? Professor Slughorn said—wait, what did you say your name was?"

I stared at her for another second, until I was positive she was done speaking. Then I took a deep breath, and smiled. "I'm Lily Evans. My parents are Muggles, too, but I already knew about magic. My best friend told me, he's a wizard too. And yes, I'm looking forward to Potions, as well."

Mary nodded. "Your best friend is a wizard too? Are his parents Muggles or—"

"For Merlin's sake, Mary, leave the poor girl alone!" a voice from a nearby bed shouted. "Can't you see she's trying to settle in?"

Mary's eyes opened wide, like an owl. "Oh I am sorry," she apologized.

I shook my head, smiling. "It's alright."

Mary smiled. "Well, at any rate, that was Marlene I-forget-her-last-name. Dd you know—"

"McKinnon!" Marlene shouted. "And sssshhhh! It's all well and good if Lily there's all right with your blabbering, but some of us are _trying_ to sleep!"

Mary blushed. "Sorry!" she shouted to Marlene, who covered her face in her blankets. Then she turned and whispered to me, "Talk to you tomorrow?"

I nodded, and Mary jumped onto her bed and crawled under the covers. I smiled, and finished getting ready for bed. Finally I crawled in bed and fell asleep.

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**Hope you enjoyed Chapter 1! Please review! Reviews are my motivation! It'll mean the world to me! Plus I'm not going to update until I get at least a couple reviews!**


	2. Mr Obnoxious—I mean Potter

**Welcome back! Here's Chapter 2!**

**At any rate, enjoy!**

**Oh and to the three of you who reviewed, thanks SO MUCH!**

**BlibberingHumdinger7, you were the first reviewer, and I was SUPER excited when I got that email telling me I got a review!**

**Tarzii, thanks! Your review was so sweet and made me feel good :)**

**And PerfectMusic05, thanks for the review! Don't worry, you'll see plenty of the other characters! And I'm going to try and keep the story as true to the original plot as possible.**

**Disclaimer: The only way I own Harry Potter is in my dreams. Anything you can find in any of JK Rowling's writing or on the Harry Pottter Wiki probably isn't mine. Unless i made a super lucky guess.**

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Lily's POV:

"Today, you will all be learning how to do Wingardium Leviosa," Professor Flitwick instructed the class. "Please turn to page..."

I was super excited. This was my very first wizard class, and we got to start straight away with learning a new spell!

I turned to to page as instructed and scanned the page. I had already read the first few chapters prior to coming to Hogwarts, so all I needed was a quick reminder of what I needed to do.

I raised my wand, about to do the required swish and flick, when I got a tapping on the shoulder from behind me. I turned around, to see none other than James Potter.

"What do you want Potter?" I said, gritting my teeth.

James raised his eyebrows. "You're calling me Potter? Who are you, a teacher?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "You call me Evans."

"Fair point. Anyways, do you understand how to do the spell? I don't get it."

"Try reading the book," I muttered, and turned back to my own desk. I raised my wand again. "Winga—"

"I _did_ read the book! But it doesn't make sense! What does it mean by _swish_? Does it—"

"Figure it out! Now shut up before we get into trouble!"

He rolled his eyes. "Evans, we're discussing the spell, I hardly think we'd get in trouble for that."

Then, as if on cue, Professor Flitwick strolled over. "Evans! James! Concentrate!"

James immediately stood up. "Sorry, Professor, me and Evans were just talking about Quidditch."

My eyes opened wide "No we weren't, we were just discussing the spell! You said you didn't know how to do the swishing motion, and I said—"

"Don't be silly, Evans, anyone can do a swish. Look," and he executed the perfect spell, making the feather fly two feet before gracefully dropping to the ground.

I was glaring at him with all my might, and I could see him, Sirius, and another boy, who looked short and slightly chubby, all stifling their own laughter.

I turned and refused to look back for the rest of class, no matter how many times James tapped on my shoulder. If he did, I would just shake him off.

The girl next to me started to take notice. I recognized her from the Sorting, so I knew she was a Gryffindor like me, but her name slipped my mind.

She smiled at me. "James Potter seems to be giving you a bit of trouble, isn't he?"

I nodded. "You don't know the half of it. He was bothering me multiple times yesterday, as well."

She nodded and gave me a sympathetic look. "Frank Longbottom over there has been bothering me too, but in a different way."

I gave her a confused look, but instead of clarifying, she stuck her hand out to me. "Alice Selwyn."*****

I shook it. "Lily Evans. Are your folks...?"

"My whole family's pureblood. Yours?"

"Muggles."

"That's cool."

"I s'pose."

"Selwyn! Evans! Back to work!"

I grinned at Alice, and she grinned back at me.

* * *

At lunch, I soon found myself sitting with Alice, Mary, and Marlene. Marlene turned out to be really sweet, despite my first impression from last night. Apparently she had just been grumpy from lack of sleep.

We were enjoying ourselves and ranting about our first classes, when James Potter and three of his friends walked up to us. I recognized one of the boys as Sirius, another as that chubby boy from Charms, and one other with brown hair and cheap clothing.

My friends immediately stopped talking, and we all turned to face the boys. "What is it, Potter?" I snapped at James. "Come to apologize, have you? Well, I'm not—"

"I wasn't planning on apologzing, actually," he said with a casual smirk on his face. Honestly, was that thing plastered on there or what?

"Well then, what do you want?"

"I was wondering if we could become friends?"

I stared at him in indignation. "After what happened yesterday _and_ today? And you don't even have the decency to apologize?"

"I told you last night, I want to make myself remembered. And somehow, being remembered as the guy who apologizes for things he finds funny doesn't seem like what I'd intended."

I groaned. "So why in the world then would I want to be your friend?!"

"Because I'm clever and rather charming."

Two of the three boys surrounding him snickered at that. One of them, the one with the cheap clothes, just rolled his eyes and looked unimpressed with his friend's egotistical remark.

"Oh please, you're as charming as a toad."

"So does that mean I'm clever?"

"You're as clever as a toad, too."

"Oh, come on, Evans, you haven't even given me a chance here!"

Marlene nudged me. "He's sort of got a point, you know."

I glared at her. I nearly said something, but then I noticed Severus walking around with some Sytherins. I quickly excused myself and took my tray over there to meet him.

We talked for a bit, until one of the other Slytherins, a shifty looking one named Mulciber, called. "Oi, Snape, what's taking you so long?" She noticed me and added, "Why are you talking to one of her type?"

I huffed. "One of my type? And what is my type?"

Severus put his arm on my shoulder. "He's just joking, Lily, don't worry 'bout it. But I really ought to be going, though."

I nodded. "I should be getting back to my new friends, too. Maybe we can hang out some more later?"

He grinned. "Of course. We get Friday afternoons off, meet me by the lake?"

"Alright. See ya, Sev!"

We walked backto our separate tables, but I couldn't help but overhear when Severus sat down, his friends were teasing him about my calling him Sev. And by the way it sounded, it didn't feel like a friendly teasing. But I shook that thought of out my head as I returned to my table.

"Lily, why'd you just leave to talk to that guy? And who was he? He looked kinda slimy, in my opinion." Mary asked.

I bit my lip. "That was Severus, my best friend."

"But he's a _Sytherin_," Marlene whispered to me.

I gave her a look. "So? Honestly, you're just as bad as my sister!"

I felt something in my chest at the mention of my sister. A sort of hurt only she had given me when we had departed on King's Cross. I could still remember the venom in her voice as she viciously called me a freak.

I noticed James and his friends all giving me curious looks. James noticed me looking, though, and changed his look to something more neutral.

"So what do you say? Friends?" I could sense a hint of pleading in his voice, and my heart softened slightly. Maybe he wasn't so bad, after all.

"Alright, friends, Potter. But you'd better not blow it."

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**Hope you liked this chapter! It wasn't very eventful or exciting, I know that, but I'm just trying to set the story up. We'll get to the good stuff soon, I promise.**

**Oh, and I know that typically Lily shouldn't be giving James that second chance until much later in the story, when James officially cleans up his act, but trust me, I know what I'm doing. It's all part of the plot :))**

**Anyways, review!**

**1) I realize most people call her Alice Prewett, but I looked it up, and there's absolutely no evidence suggesting her last name is Prewett. However, i do know she's a pureblood, so I went with a known pureblood name, Selwyn. (If you recall, when Umbridge was wearing Slytherin's locket, she insisted she was related to the Selwyn family and that was why she was wearing a locket with S on it.)**


	3. Let's Go Hex That Loser!

**Ready for the next chapter! Well, here it is! And now you get to read the story from James's POV for once!**

**Oh, and, if you're worried about me giving up on this story, don't be. At this point I've already written 11 chapters, and I'm going to write more today. It's just a little tricky because I have a summer school course in PE, but there's hardly any homework and I have today off.**

**Anyways thanks to all the reviews!**

**Special thanks to Sacred'-'Harmony, I really really loved your review!**

**siriuslylexi, thanks, and you'll find out in this chapter!**

**Ravenclaw4ever, honestly, I hadn't even really thought of putting Tnks in the story, but now that I think about it, that would be great!**

**Well, nothing left to say but enjoy and review! Remember: Reviewing is my motivation to write!**

**Disclaimer: I'm a teenage girl. I didn't write any of the Harry Potter books. Gimme a break.**

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James's POV:

It was hard work, convincing Lily I wasn't a complete jerk. Especially with all the pranks I pulled. But honestly, if those two Slytherin idiots Avery and Mulciber didn't want to have sudden uncontrollable hair growth, then they shouldn't have been such arses during flying lessons.

I was talking to my three best friends today. There was Sirius, who was on the same rapport as me*, and proved to be just as clever and devious as me.

Then there was Remus. He was sort of a stickler for the rules, but once you got past that, he was willing to help me and Sirius out with our pranks. He said it was to make sure we didn't do anything more "idiotic" or "reckless" than we already are. I s'pose he's right, but I wasn't about to tell him that.

Then there was Peter. Peter was alright, a little shy, but awfully helpful with everything. He was also fairly likeable*****.

A few months into the school year, and Remus came up with the brilliant idea to call ourselves the Marauders. And so we did.

I could tell Lily didn't approve of any of the things we did. And I even told this to Sirius.

"Mate, I mean this in the best possible way, but why do you even bother trying to be friends with Evans? She's like Remus, except...she's a girl! And blokes aren't supposed to be friends with girls!"

I rolled my eyes. "Sirius, you're funny."

"Honest!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! It's against the laws of nature! And you still didn't answer my question!"

I thought about it. "Honestly, mate, I have no idea."

"Maybe you fancy her."

"Be serious."

"I am Sirius!"

I laughed "You've used that pun three times already in the past month. It's gonna get old mate. Hey, you wanna go flood the third corrider?"

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Two months later, I was walking down a corridor with Peter and Remus. Sirius had gotten detention, but I had found some mirrors so we could still talk through them.

Magic made life so much easier.

At any rate, we came across Lily and a Slytherin arguing about something. I couldn't hear what, though.

Peter nudged me. "Hey, isn't that the bloke Evans was talking to the first day of school?"

I took a second look, and realized Peter was right. See what I mean about Peter being helpful?

I looked closer, and got angry. What right did this guy have making Evans angry like that?

I pulled my two friends into another hall. "Let's go pull a prank on this guy."

Remus rolled his eyes (he tended to do that a lot nowadays) and Peter nodded excitedly.

Two days later, the slimy git was slimier than usual. And by that, I mean he was covered in troll drool.

I was feeling pretty satisfied with myself. That loser wouldn't be showing his face around me anytime soo—

"JAMES POTTER!"

I'd recognize that voice anywhere. But why was Lily so angry?

She marched up to me, looking fierce. I opened my mouth to day something, but she stopped me with a huge slap.

Everyone went silent. Pretty much everyone watching had soon backed up and left.

I stared at Lily. "What was that for?"

"You change him back!"

"And why on earth would I do that?"

"Severus is my best friend!"

And suddenly it hit me. _Severus..._that was the guy on the train compartment! The one Lily was sitting next to!

Oops.

She stared at me for a few more moments, then groaned. "You're not apologizing!"

I shrugged. "It's like I said, Lils, I don't apologize."

Lily shoved me with both of her hands. "Don't call me Lils!" She gave me one last glare, and stormed off. I guess our temporary friendship was over then.

I stared at Snape. I watched him trying to get the slime off of him.

I laughed. Lily would get over herself. She didn't deserve a friend like Snivellus, she's soon realize this and come back to me.

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**Well, there you have it! Hope you liked it!**

**Constructive criticism is welcome! Just no flames!**

**Please review! You have no idea how much I love your reviews!**

**1) Did I use the word "rapport" right? Should I have said "Sirius, who had rapport with me"? Gah, the English language is confusing.**

**2) I stand my idea of Peter being likeable. He's got to have some sort of redeeming quality, and besides, we all know that he likes being near people he can get something out of. It must be easier to hang around stronger, better people if he's likeable, cuz then they'll gladly keep him.**


	4. How come I'm a parrot?

**Hi again! Year 1 is over, it went by so fast! And here we are, when Lily, her friends, and the Marauders are starting their second year.**

**I'm kinda sad cuz I only got one review last time. DON'T BE SHY, EVEN IF YOU GOT HATE, I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER! :D**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, Fred would've never died (HOW CAN YOU HAVE GEORGE WITHOUT FRED GAH)**

**NOTE: I'm holding a contest for you artists out there! Check out the Author's Note at the bottom of the page!**

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"Come on, Tuney, you haven't spoken to me _all summer_, can't you at least say goodbye?" I pleaded with my sister.

Petunia just huffed and turned around, refusing to acknowledge that I had spoken at all.

I sighed. What had happened to us? We used to be best friends before...before...

Before Severus became my new best friend.

I shook the thought away from my head. It wasn't Severus's fault I was a witch and Petunia was only a Muggle. It wasn't his fault she decided to get so jealous to the point where the only words exchanged between us were my feeble attempts at reconciliation and Petunia's rare comments, usually no more than a direct insult.

"Lily!" I heard a familiar voice shout. "Lily Lily Lily you'll never guess what happened over the holidays it was super splendid! First my mum had us all go to Italy for our vacation! Have you ever been to Venice it's such a delightful place! All the water! Although the smell wasn't too great. But it was _ever_ so romantic, you'd love it there! And speaking of Venice, we were riding on one of the gondolas when my brother—oh goodness I haven't let you speak a word! Well, go on!"

I laughed, and embraced Mary. "Mary, it's great to see you, too!" I turned to my family. "Mum, Dad, this is my friend Mary. Tuney..." I noticed Petunia poke her nose away from us here, "Well, anyways, I must be going!"

I hugged my parents, and walked off with Mary.

"You were saying?"

"Oh yes, I was saying something, wasn't I? What was I saying?"

"Venice. Your brother?"

"Oh, right! Well, my younger brother Anthony, he's only a few years younger than me, showed signs of magic! He's going to be a wizard, too, I just know it! Isn't it exciting? A witch and a wizard all in one Muggle family! Oh and also I was looking through the shops and I saw these and I couldn't help but purchase them for you and me and Marlene and Alice! Just look, aren't they lovely?"

I leaned over to look at the small brown paper bag Mary had just pulled out from her baggage. Inside were several woven bracelets with several different colors. Each of them had a charm on them that said "Best Friends" and room for another charm.

I gasped. "Mary, those are great!"

Mary nodded. "I thought do, oh, I hope you'd like them! And look, you notice how there's room for another charm? I was thinking that we could enchant some ordinary Muggle charms so that they're more individual, you know? To show off that even though we're all best friends, we're still individual? Or is that too far?"

I shook my head. "That's a brilliant idea!"

Mary beamed. "Let's go find a compartment with the other girls and then I can show them! Oh I'm so glad you liked it, I sure hope the others will love it too..."

I shot one last glance at my family, and when I turned back, I noticed that James Potter and Sirius Black were also saying goodbyes to their families. I wondered briefly why Sirius wasn't with his own family when James caught me looking. We stared at each other for a moment, as I couldn't quite understand his expression, when I tore apart, trying hard not to blush.

What was wrong with me?

Mary soon found Alice, and showed her the bracelets. Alice, like me, agreed the entire idea was brilliant, or as Alice put it, "Bloody genius!"

We quickly found an empty compartment and we caught up on each other's lives. Alice, it seemed, had spent the summer at home, and, she added with a short blush, Augusta Longbottom and her son Frank visited several times.

"Frank's such a dear old thing, and his mother's nice too. A little sharp, and she's quick to point out your flaws, but you can't help but excuse that. After all, her husband Neville* just died. At any rate, Frank was ever so sweet, he kept on complimenting me and being such a gentleman—"

"We should set you two up!" Marlene exclaimed, walking in and sitting down. "I'm so glad to find you lot, I've been looking _everywhere_," she explained with a big dramatic gesture.

Mary quickly showed Marlene the bracelets, and we all picked one each. We also each grabbed a charm Mary brought. Marlene taught us a quick spell to personalize the charms.

Mary's charm turned out to be a parrot. All of us laughed at that, except Mary, who looked utterly confused as to why she should be represented as a parrot.

Marlene got a horse, which she seemed very pleased with.

Alice got a tiger, which surprised us. Who knew Alice would get such a fierce creature?

And as for me...

"Oh, Lily, that's such a lovely doe."

* * *

**Well, there you have it!**

**In case you were wondering, yes, if any of the girls cast Expecto Patronum or became Animagi, they'd get the same animal as their charm.**

**CONTEST:**

**I really, really want to add a picture for this story. I don't like the annoying silhouette that represents the story.**

**Anyways, if you have any fanart THAT YOU DREW, OR YOU HAVE FULL RIGHTS TO USE, please let me see it! You can DM me, and I'll give you my email. You can send me the picture through email. If you signed your name at the bottom, I'm alright with that.**

**Anyways, it has to be Lily and James. It can either be him teasing/messingwith her, maybe asking her out. OR it can be just them being a couple.**

**NOTHING DIRTY. I don't roll that way.**

**You can draw it right now, or you can send me art you've drawn a while ago. As long as it was _you_ that drew it. I feel uncomfortable taking art that other people did.**

**Anyways, whoever sends me the best art wins! Here's the prize:**

**1) Your art gets to be used for my story! (duh)**

**2) You get to come up with an OC! (I'll be picking the House and where he/she comes in the story, but you can come up with name, appearance, personality, what they wanna be when they grow up, WHATEVER you want!)**

**3) I will go to your profile and read ALL your fanfics and review honestly! And I'll add you to my Favorite Authors list.**

**I know, the prize isn't that great.**

**Note: IF YOU WIN, YOU STILL GET RIGHTS TO YOUR ART. YOU'RE JUST GIVING ME THE RIGHTS TO USE IT FOR MY STORY. I WON'T USE IT ANYWHERE OUTSIDE OR TAKE CREDIT FOR IT.**

**So yeah. Review!**


	5. Sev, Nice People Don't Ignore Friends!

**Hiya again!**

**Sorry if the story's going slowly, the first few years is really just a set-up for all the main events that'll happen later! So if you stick by me and read this worthless piece of writing, I'll try my best to make up for it!**

**At any rate, enjoy! If you like it, review! If you love it, review! If you hate it, tell me why you hate it so much but don't be rude. I'm sensitive.**

**Haha.**

**Disclaimer: Remus Lupin died in the final book of Harry Potter (spoiler). I never would have let our favorite werewolf (If you're a Twilight fan, JACOB ISN'T A WEREWOLF) die like that, especially not after he just gave birth to a son! So no, I don't own this.**

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Sirius's POV:

Quidditch tryouts soon started. Me and James both signed up eagerly. I wanted to be a Beater, and James aspired to be a Chaser. Remus and Peter both optedout, neither caring too much for playing Quidditch. I thought they were missing out, and I told them this, but they both promised to be watching and cheering in the stands, which appeased me.

I imagined Peter and Remus in cheerleader outfits. The thought made me laugh.

Me and James were waiting impatiently with our brooms. My prat of a father refused tobuy be a broomstick, but James's parents bought both of us the best brooms on the market: The all-new Cleensweeps*.

The Potters were nice people.

Anyways, Chaser tryouts were first, and James scored every goal. The captain, Cooke* was clearly impressed. I gave James a high-five, and he went to sit with Peter and Remus.

Beater tryouts were next, and I was first. I had lots of fun hitting the Bludgers at the enchanted dummies, knocking all of them over.

I landed on the ground, gave a little bow, and went to visit my friends.

The next day, at breakfast, Cooke came over and congratulated me and James on making the team.

* * *

Lily's POV:

The first three months of second year proved to be even harder than last year. And after all everyone told me about OWLs and NEWTs, I was really scared. Could it really get that hard? Or maybe all the sixth years were pulling one huge prank on us.

I stared down at my books. I was _utterly_ determined to excel in _every_ class I took.

I immediately dived into my homework, making sure to answer every question thoroughly and neatly.

Once I'd finished, I stretched. It was really cozy in the common room, and I was grateful to be able to do my homework in such a welcoming space, as opposed to my room back home in Cokesworth.

I carefully packed my books away, and carried them up to my room when—

"Aaahhh!" I screamed, slipping in whatever gloopy mixture had been carelessly spilled all over the floor. Laughter quickly erupted as I fell, so I was sitting on the ground and still sliding around.

I felt my cheeks grow hotter. I looked around the room and noticed that most of the people were laughing their heads off, save my three friends.

I tried to stand up, but only succeeded in slipping again. I groaned, and tried again, failing yet again.

I heard some familiar laughter. I glanced towards the entrance to the common room, and there came a sight that, honestly, I should have been expecting.

The Marauders.

Granted, Remus wasn't laughing as hard as the others. He giggled for a second, then noticed me looking at him, and promptly stifled his laughter and shot me an apologetic look.

I groaned again and stared at the ceiling for a moment, before reaching for my wand.

"Scourgify," I muttered, and the mess quickly was cleaned.

I caught another glimpse at the boys. They were still laughing at me, and this hurt me.

It was bad enough when the did a prank that affected a group of people. But I knew for certain that this time, they had been aiming specifically for me. After all, that slime on the ground only appeared when I got up and started heading for the stairs.

Why'd they have to direct it at _me_?

I ran up the stairs, dropped my books on my bed, and tried hard not to cry.

It wasn't fair. Ever since James and Sirius had made the Quidditch team, they had been the stars of the second years. Everyone seemed to adore them, and didn't seem to care that the pranks they tended to play could be cruel.

But I knew the truth. They were arrogant pricks who didn't care about anything except themselves.

* * *

A short bit later, I was climbing out of the common room, refusing to talk to anyone, not even my friends. I knew that this whole endeaver hadn't been their fault, and that I had to give them credit for not laughing, but still, I was in a sour mood and didn't feel up to talking to anyone.

But luck didn't seem to be on my side, when I accidentally ran into someone, knocking both of over. I imemediately apologized, and looked up.

It was Severus.

We hadn't talked since the end of summer. Granted, we had lots of fun during that time, but it felt to me as if he had been avoiding me.

This thought ran through my head as I helped him up. I also considered the fact that Severus had been a victim of the Marauders' pranks several times. If anyone was bound to understand what I was feeling at the moment, it would be Severus.

"Hi Severus!" I said, trying my best to sound cheery.

He wouldn't meet my eyes, though, when he replied. "Oh, hey Lily."

"Haven't spoken to you in a while, have I?"

"No..."

I stood there awkwardly, struggling in my head to find a topic of conversation we could both talk about. When had talking to Severus been so hard?

"So..." I started, when I heard noises from behind me. I spun around to find three Slytherins whose names slipped my mind.

Severus's eyes opened wide, and he immediately grabbed his things and ran to join them, and they walked off.

He hadn't even said goodbye.

* * *

**So what'd you guys think of the chapter? Review!**

**1) Just imagine for a moment that Nimbuses haven't been invented you, and the Cleensweeps then were the equivalent of a Firebolt now.**

**2) I know, I know, there is no "Cooke" in Harry Potter. Just imagine he's a Muggleborn who had kids in his thirties, and that's why Harry didn't go to school with his kids. Or maybe he died at Voldemort's hands. The decision's up to you.**


	6. Third Year ! :D

**Hey guys! How'd you like the idea of second year only taking one chapter?**

**I hope you liked it, 'cause third year is gonna go by just as quickly!**

**Disclaimer: Remus wasn't the only one to die in the Harry Potter books. Sirius died in the fifth book. I assure you, I never would've let that happen if ****_I_**** owned Harry Potter. But I don't.**

**At any rate, enjoy! And remember to review, it's you guys that keep me going!**

* * *

Lily's POV:

Third year was proving to be one of the best years ever. I was happier than ever, for a number of reasons.

First of all, Alice started dating Frank Longbottom. And although this meant I was spending less time with her, it made me happy to see my friend happy.

In this time, I also found that me and Marlene were growing closer. I even got to meet her younger sister, Charlotte, who was starting Hogwarts this year. I didn't know her too well, though, seeing as she was Sorted into Hufflepuff.

Also, during the summer, I had confronted Severus about not speaking to me at school. He apologized, and now we spent much more time hanging out than last year. It was splendid having my best friend back, even if he did seem a little distant.

But, best of all, James Potter and the other Marauders were less active. Sure, they still pulled pranks, and, sure, they still targeted me and Severus a lot, but not as much. They just spent most of their time in their dormitories. At first, I had been suspicious, but, seeing as no humongous pranks took place, I finally decided that they were just laying low.*

All in all, this was turning out to be one of the best years of my life. Or, at least, it would have been.

* * *

One morning in late Februrary, my friends and I were sitting at breakfast, teasing Alice and Frank, when my new owl, McFeathers* dropped off the latest issue of _The Daily Prophet_. The headline scared me a little. The article scared me even more.

_Dark Wizard Rises Into Power_

_An evil wizard calling himself by the name of Lord Voldemort has been rising to power. Rumored to be worse and more heartless and greedy than Grindelwand, You-Know-Who has been terrorizing Muggles and Muggleborns. He has been collecting an army of servants called Death Eaters, who assist him in carrying out his wicked deeds._

_The current location of You-Know-Who is currently unknown, but we advise all wizards ot be careful, as he has launched a number of murders and attacks on both the Wizarding and the Muggle communities. A special precaution must be taken for all Muggle-borns and their relatives, as You-Know-Who seems to be taking a special focus on them._

I stared at the article for a few more moments nervously. I had heard rumors of this Voldemort, but this was the first time the Daily Prophet has acknowledged those rumors.

"Hey, Lily, see anything interesting in there?" Marlene asked me, and I silently handed her the newspaper. She read it with narrow eyes, then passed it to Mary.

_I_ was a Muggleborn. Did that mean that Voldemort was going to target me and my family?

Mary seemed just as concerned as me. We exchanged silent glances. I knew she was scared too, not only by the worried look in her eyes, but also by the fact that she was no longer speaking.

Marlene and Alice tried to reassure us, tell us that there was nothing to worry about, that the newspaper was just exaggerating again, to relax.

That was easy for them to say. They weren't the ones who had a special interest in by a dangerous Dark wizard.

* * *

**I know, I know, the chapter was super-short. But it wasn't meant to be storytelling as much as it was supposed to be an update on their lives, but still, review! Pleeeeeeeeaaaase?**

**1) You guys are smart, you can probably figure out what they were up to. Here's a clue: They'll stop calling each other by their first names from now on, and start using their infamous Marauder nicknames!**


	7. Hullo Walrus

**YO, WASSUP PEEPZZ?**

**Haha, thought it would be funny if I started off talking like that. Was it funny? Did you laugh?**

**No?**

**You thought it was dumb and/or juvenile?**

**Yay...-_-**

**Anyways, here's the new chapter. In case you were wondering just how annoying and horrible Petunia is, here's your chance to find out!**

**We also get to meet...you guessed it, Vernon "The Walrus" Dursley!**

**(cue unenthusiastic applause)**

**Well, enjoy! And remember to review! Review and I'll love you forever!**

**Disclaimer:**

**Me: Harry, do you belong to me?**

**Harry: Where am I? Why can't I apparate home?**

**Me: You're in Muggle America. Now shut up, just tell the folks if you belong to me and you can return to Ginny.**

**Harry: Errrrr...well, no, I don't belong to you.**

**Me: Rats! Well, you can go home now! And quick,**

**Harry: Okay...**

**Me: So there you have it! All rights to anything you can find in the books go to JK Rowling, not me!**

**And one more thing. Here, in this chapter, we _finally_ slow things down. Not a whole lot, but we won't be speeding through the years anymore.**

* * *

Lily's POV:

Sitting at the dinner table at my mum's house should've been a fun occasion. And it would've been if it weren't for my obnoxious sister.

And her new boyfriend.

Vernon Dursley was an extremely rude boy. He, like my sister, considered himself above everybody else. Sure, he acted humble and modest in front of my parents, but as soon as they left to go on their anniversary dinner, his puny eyes narrowed at me.

"Petunia told me you're a freak and a know-it-all."

I stared at him. It made no sense. What kind of person would meet their's girlfriend's sister and start off by insulting them? Even James would give them a chance!

I shook my head. It was bad enough having to be here, no need to make it worse by thinking of _Potter_.

"Why, hello to you too," I told Vernon. "It's nice to meet you, too."

Petunia rolled her eyes. "Don't mind her," she confided to Vernon. "She doesn't care about normal, respectable people. She's too busy doing her own odd things."

"I understand," he responded, still glaring at me.

I growled. "In case you were wondering, no, you're not making a brilliant first impression on me, either. Better step up your game or I'll hex you."*

For a moment, I'd forgotten I was in the Muggle world, and "hexing" isn't a common form of attack.

Vernon stared at me like I was a disgusting blob of ooze. Petunia just sputtered. Then they both spoke at once.

"You're talking nonsense, I see."

"You wouldn't dare!"

Vernon turned to Petunia in surprise. "How can she possibly hex us?"

I giggled. "Tuney, I'm surprised. You haven't told your precious _boyfriend_ that your dear little sister is a witch?"

I figured I was probably breaking some sort of rule by saying that, but I was too angry to care. I wanted to shock Vernon.

And at any rate, how could it hurt?

Now it was Vernon's turn to sputter. "A witch? Petunia, your sister seems to have lost her marbles, hasn't she?"

I giggled again as Petunia swallowed nervously, before answering. "Umm...Vernon, darling, she wasn't lying."

Vernon's eyes grew wide. I smirked for a moment* at Vernon's surprise.

But he quickly recomposed himself. He straightened up his jacket, and gave me a look of loathing. "Well, I suppose that would explain the scraggy hair."

I stared at him, before standing up abruptly, shaking the table. "Excuse me? _Excuse me?!_ You've got _some nerve_ coming into _my home_ and insulting me like there's no tomorrow! I did absolutely nothing to you!"

"You threatened to hex me!"

"And you didn't even bother saying 'Hullo, how are you, my name's Vernon', you just insult me right off the bat!"

"You're a freak!"

I glared at him, then turned to Petunia. "Lovely job picking a boyfriend, Tuney."

She gritted her teeth. "Don't. Call. Me. Tuney."

I rolled my eyes. "You'll always be Tuney to me, no matter how horrid a sister you are."

She glared at me. "You're the one—"

"On the bright side, I can see you two are perfect for each other." I gave a bitter laugh. "The Horse and the Walrus. Should you two have kids, they's all be pigs!"*

Petunia stared at me, and I stared right back at her. Then she turned to her boyfriend. "Come on, Vernon, it was a mistake bringing you to my home. Not while _she_ lives here.

And just like that, they walked off.

I went to bed overweighed with guilt. What had I done? I had just insulted and threatened my only sister and her boyfriend!

What had happened to me?

Tomorrow, I'd be leaving for my fourth year at Hogwarts. I'd apologize to her in the morning.

Sure enough, in the morning, my parents took me to King's Cross and forced Petunia to come with us. But when I turned to my sister and apologized, she said the three most hurtful words of all.

"I hate you."

* * *

**So what did you think? Spare me a moment to review? Pretty please?**

**1) From my logic, Muggleborns are allowed to use a limited amount of magic at home, to show their parents what they've learned. It makes sense. After all, Petunia once said Lily would come home "turning frogs into teacups" or something like that. This would prove that Lily can do magic. It explains why Petunia didn't realize Harry couldn't use magic at home, and it provides an understandable excuse for Lily to threaten Vernon. After all, Petunia wouldn't know that Lily isn't allowed to use it offensively, would she?**

**2) This was supposed to be a subtle addition, and my adding a footnote about this probably ruined the subtlety, but I wanted to explain. Anyways, I tried to make it so Lily was acting a little bit like James, to show that they're not complete polar opposites after all.**

**3) Did I go overboard with the references? But honestly, it makes sense. Horse+Walrus=Pig. Cuz, like, the barnyard components of a horse plus the fat and weird skin of a walrus?...never mind.**

**I'm not gonna update unless I get at least three reviews. KEEP THIS IN MIND**


	8. I missed the Sorting! :O

**Hi again, you lovely people!**

**Okay, I know I said I wouldn't post this chapter until I got 3 reviews, but then again, I can't force you guys to review and if I wait, this story's just gonna be abandoned.**

**So, for the time being, right now, I'm going to be focusing on just writing. Hopefully, when I hit 10K words, more people will notice my story.**

**apoorvam77: I am planning on adding some OC's and stuff, but they won't come for a while. Sorry bout that.**

**Disclaimer: Anything you can find in the seven harry potter books, or on the Harry Potter Wiki, isn't mind. But most of the plot is mine.**

**So huzzah, hallelujah, and ****_REVIEW!_**

**And get ready: This chapter holds the first specks of romance between our two favorite characters! (Well, "favorite" may be an exaggeration, but you know what I mean :P)(If this wasn't an author's note, I'd have to spell favorite with a u. Sheesh.)**

* * *

Lily's POV:

I shut the compartment door shut and did my best to enchant the doors so nobody could come in, not even if they used Alohomora. I didn't want anybody, not even Marlene, to walk in and see me like this.

Then I sat down, alone.

_I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry_, I told myself. _What do I care what she thinks? She was just angry, she didn't mean it_.

But my mind wouldn't accept these reassurances. It kept reminding me of Petunia's deathly-serious look as she told me she hated me, and the immense amounts of hate lacing her whispering tone.

I felt a tear escape my eyes.

This was going to be a long ride.

* * *

James's POV:

I arrived at school with a bang. Literally.

The second we stepped into the Great Hall, me and Sirius dropped Dungbombs everywhere.

Then we walked around, whistling innocently to the tune of Celestina Warbeck.

Professor McGonagall gave us a look of great displeasure, and took 10 points off Gryffindor, but I wasn't fazed. Anyone who knew me knew that I was going to just score those points back on the first Gryffindor Quidditch match.

We were led back to the Great Hall. It turned out that I had missed the Sorting.

I leaned over to Peter as I sat down. "Oi, Wormtail, how was the Sorting?"

Peter shrugged. "It was alright. Some nasty blokes were sent to Slytherin, and we got about 18 new Gryffindors, but that's about it."

Remus leaned over. "But the Sorting Hat's song was different this time 'round."

Peter nodded. "It—he—she—"

Sirius chuckled. "Mate, it's a he. You don't hear that voice coming from a girl, now do you?"

"Oh...right," Peter nodded before continuing. "Well, he was going on a lot about unity between Houses."

Sirius snorted. "Right. What does that hat think, we're all going to become best mates with those Slytherins? I'm sure we'd be real tight if they weren't a bunch of power-hungry gits."

All of us, even Remus chuckled at that, when I noticed something. I nudged Remus. "Hey, Moony, where's Evans?"

Remus looked around a bit before turning back to me, looking a bit concerned. "I'm not sure. I don't think she's shown up at all, honestly."

I furrowed my eyebrows in concern. It just wasn't like her to not show up to the Sorting and Feast like this.

"I wonder where she's off to then?" I mumbled under my breath.

"What's that, Prongs?" Sirius asked me.

"Evans is missing," I told him, before standing up and walking out.

Sirius and the others called after me. "You're missing the food!" but I ignored them and walked outside.

It didn't add up in my head. Why in the world would Lily not be here? Had she even been on the Hogwarts Express.

I searched my mind. I remembered getting off the train with her. I'd recognize that bright perfect red hair anywhere. But now that I thought about it, she hadn't been with her friend.

Maybe she'd got lost?

I shook my head. Even I knew that was a stupid thought. Lily getting lost at Hogwarts was impossible. It would be like _me_ getting lost. And I made a bloody map of this place!

I started walking towards the lake. Suddenly, I noticed someone familiar sitting by the tree.

I sighed from relief. Then I ran over towards her.

"Oi, Evans! Where've you—"

I froze in my tracks. Lily was crying.

I just stood where I was, until Lily turned towards me, her wet eyes opening wide.

For a moment, it felt like my heart was shattering.

* * *

**Wham.**

**I know this chapter was short. But you're going to have to live with that. And I'm sorry to say that the next chapter is going to be even shorter. But, it may just be better.**

**Well, what did you guys think? Tell me in your reviews what you think will happen in the next chapter!**

**Until then, peace out anteaters!**


	9. Just Forget It

**Welcome back, peeps!**

**apoorvam77: I read your review and tried to add more detail, but I couldn't really add more detail without being cheesy or corny. But I'll try to make the other chapters a more suitable length :)**

**Hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Last I checked, JK Rowling, and not I, owns Harry Potter.**

**You there! Sloth! Yes, you! Did JK Rowling hand over the rights to Harry Potter to me yet?**

**Sloth: Umm, no.**

**Me: Yeah, that's what I thought. *sighs in defeat* Next time, maybe.**

**I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER!**

**If you're reading this, please review. Even if it's just a simple, two-word review, it'll make me feel better, make me know there are people out there that actually care about my writing. :)**

* * *

Lily's POV:

No.

This could not be happening.

First, my only sister tells me she hates me, then I start crying for hours like a complete idiot, and now nobody other than _James Potter_ has to come over, just to mock me.

The entire thing made me want to cry all the more.

Merlin, I was pathetic.

I turned away, and stood up, ready to just walk away from James, but I suddenly felt a warm hand rest itself on my shoulder.

A breathless voice came from behind me. "Woah, Evans. Don't go. Why were you crying?"

I paused. Should I make a run for it? Suddnely, his grip on me tightened, so instead of bolting, I spun around and faced him. I might've replied with a smart comment, like, _None of your_ business*, but I noticed that James was looking at me with some real concern in his eyes. I closed my eyes, and took a shaky breath, and answered.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Why don't you head back to—"

"Evans, you were just crying. I may be wrong, but you looked really hurt. Don't tell me it was nothing, because there's definitely something wrong."

I looked at him. He looked serious, and I felt softened by the gentleness in his tone. But then I stiffened.

"Why do you care?"

He froze. We stared at each other for a moment, until he finally opened his mouth, took in a breath, and said, "I...don't know..."

But something in his eyes told me he knew. But still, I shook him off, and walked a few feet away. "Look, I'll be at the Feast in a few minutes. Just...go back, okay? I'll be alright."

I turned to look at him. His face showed every sign of reluctance, but I waved my arm, as if to repeat myself.

_Go_.

No way was I going to confide in him.

He still looked reluctant, but nevertheless, turned round and walked away, looking back at me one last time before entering?

I sat down again and wiped away my tears.

* * *

James's POV:

I headed back into the Great Hall, my mind still lingering on Lily.

_Why do you care?_

I walked towards my table and sat down. There was a plate full of mashed potatoes, corn, chicken, and roast beef,* and much more, but I found that I didn't really have the stomach for it.

Sirius turned around from his own food and nudged me hard in the rib with his elbow. "Why'd you up and leave like that? D'you know how—"

"I like Evans."

Sirius and Peter just stared at me like I had lost my mind, and Remus just smirked down at his food.

"Glad to see you finally worked it out for yourself."

* * *

**BAM!**

**See? Extremely short chapter. But don't worry, the chapter will start considerably growing. I guess you could say this was "a phase".**

**So yeah. What'd you guys think?**

**1) Yes, that was sarcasm. Even I know "None of your business" is nowhere newr a smart response.**

**2) Replace the roast beef with carne asada and that's probably my favorite meal of all time. Actually, scratch that. You HAVE to add potsticker dumplings for it to be my favorite meal.**

**RRRRRRR**

**EEEEEEE**

**VVVVVVV**

**IIIIIII**

**EEEEEEE**

**WWWWWWW**

**PLEASE!**

**:D**


	10. Let's Play Qudditch!

**And...WELCOME BACK TO LEARNING TO LOVE HIM! :D**

**Get ready, grab onto your armrests, because James now knows that he likes Lily! And you know what that means!**

**HE'S GONNA START ASKING HER OUT!**

**AND SHE'S GONNA TOTALLY REJECT HIM!**

**(That's not a spoiler, right? You knew Lily rejects James, right? I hope so!)**

**Lily153: Well, most of the chapters are going to be fairly short, but I'll avoid making them 700-word short like that last one. But you're not really going to see anything close to 2000-word chapters.**

**apoorvam77: Hmm well for me I just have trouble writing description because I feel that it takes away from the main point of the story. But maybe that's just me. I need to figure that skill out. Either way, I don't think it has to do with the point of view, because I have the same problem when I write in third person.**

**Disclaimer: If I had a nickel for ever Harry Potter character I owned, I'd have 1¢ (I found a penny on the floor! :D ) Anything in this chapter found in the seven HP books ISN'T MINE!**

**Enjoy this chapter! If you like it, or hate it, REVIEW!**

* * *

Lily's POV:

One unsaid rule of every Hogwarts student was that you had to support your House's Quidditch team. I personally didn't particularly care about Quidditch, but like I said, it was an unsaid rule that I had attend. House pride, I suppose.

Which meant that one month into the school year, when Gryffindor played its first match against Ravenclaw, I found myself leaving my nice, cool, common room, and started marching onto the huge Quidditch field in the hot, hot sun with my four friends (Marlene, Alice, Frank, and Mary.)

Now, I actually didn't know a whole lot about Quidditch, but this didn't matter. Mary was very quick on filling me in on all the rules, teams, and the entire history of Quidditch while we were waiting for the game to start.

By the end of Mary's rant, one could practically consider me to be quite the Quidditch expert.

Soon enough, the game began. The Gryffindor players flew out in their bright scarlet and gold robes. I cheered like all the other Gryffindors. But then I felt a surge of anger when I noticed two of the players.

James Potter and Sirius Black.

I had already known they were on the team, of course, but it still irritated me to no end, watching them up there, the crowd roaring louder every time they did a quick dive or loop the loop.

They got so much attention and adoration, it sickened me. Didn't they have better things to do than show off?

Nevertheless, I tried to pay extra attention, making sure I understood what was going on. I followed the Quaffle with my eyes, watching as the Chasers kicked and tossed, as the Beaters hit and whacked, as the Keepers lunged and reached, and as the Seekers dived and missed.

James quickly scored the first goal, and the crowd grew loud and started chanting, "Potter! Potter! Potter! Potter!"

James grinned at the crowd, and I rolled my eyes. Such a showoff. But suddenly, he noticed me in the crowd, and winked, before turning around and heading back to the game.

I froze. Did James Potter just..._wink_ at me?

* * *

James's POV:

The game was going brilliantly, to say the least. Every time someone scored a goal, I would glance back at Lily, taking in her silky hair and her adorable face...

Then I'd snap back to reality as a Quaffle made a hasty appearance.

I'd always tried hard at Quidditch, but this time, I really put in the extra effort this time. Truth be told, I really hoped Lily would see me playing like a pro.

Maybe she'd get excited.

Maybe she'd see me as a huge Quidditch hero.

Maybe she'd throw her arms around me.

Maybe she'd kiss me.

Maybe she'd—

"Prongs! Eye on the ball!" Sirius shouted at me before whacking a Bludger at a Slytherin.

I snapped back into focus. I'd really have to focus.

Reminding myself to not get distracted, I continued playing the game. It went on for what felt like hours, until our Seeker, a sixth year named Adam something, finally caught the Snitch.

Gryffindor had won, 260 to 80.

I could proudly say that I had personally scored well over half of those points.

I quickly landed on the soft ground. The entire team quickly cleaned up, and then we all headed over to the Gryffindor common room to celebrate.

Everyone who had seen the game patted me on the back, grinning and congratulating me on a great game, but I didn't take notice to most of them. I was keeping an eye out for one particular girl...

A flurry of red hair passed by, and I jumped up, over the crowd.

"Hey! Evans!"

Lily, who had been talking and laughing with her friends, turned her head and noticed me. She raised her eyebrows as if to say, _what?_

"Evans! What'd you think of the game? Pretty spectacular, huh? I made some pretty cool shots, didn't I?"*

She just looked at me and gave me a slightly disbelieving look, before rolling her eyes and walking away, towards the girls' dormitories.

My victory smile dropped a little.

I quickly handed Peter the butterbeer in my hand and ran off to follow her. I tried to listen in to their conversation, but over the exceptionally loud cheers of the crowd, it was nearly impossible.

I managed to catch one word Lily said, though, before giving up and returning to my friends.

_Conceited_.

* * *

**So, what'd you guys think?**

**Oh, and, by the way, I'd just like you to know that I really really suck at sports, so I couldn't really write the sports scenes well. Otherwise I would have thrown in an announcer (I'm thinking it would have been funny if he was Wood's father) relaying all the events, but again, that's one thing that I really CAN'T write. Sorry!**

**Oh, yeah, and I totally lied when I said James was going to ask Lily out.**

**He's not going to...**

**...yet**

**1) And he wonders why Lily thinks he's arrogant, haha.**

**Stay tuned for more James x Lily action, and don't forget to review!**


	11. Snape and Sirius: First Class Idiots

**Hiya! I have no idea if the events in this chapter actually happened in this year, but let's just say they did.**

**Thanks to my reviewers! I don't know what I'd do without you!**

**Disclaimer: The I-Do-Not-Own-Anything-You-Can-Find-In-The-Seven-Ha rry-Potter-Books mermaid has struck again!**

* * *

James's POV:

Blame Sirius.

No, blame Snivellus.

No, blame Sirius

Actually, don't blame one of them. Blame _both_ of the dim-witted idiots.

It started when Snape acted like a git.

He was talking to Lily.

So, me and Padfoot got the brilliant idea to enlarge his two front teeth with Engorgio. It was actually really funny, but then Snape decided to fight back. We endedup duelling, but none of us got hit with a spell except Peter, who got turned into a mouse. Me and Sirius got a good laugh out of the irony in that transformation.

At any rate, we all (except Remus, of course) got detentions together. With Snivellus.

While in detention, I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, Sirius casually scratching his head. If it wasn't Sirius, this probably wouldn't have mattered, but I knew better. This was clearly a Marauder signal. And sure enough, Peter promptly nodded, then proceeded to drop a Dungbomb.

This concerned me because, clearly, my friends were up to something.

And I didn't know about it.

Professor Flitwick, who had been watching us, quickly scrambled to clear the mess. Meanwhile, I watched Sirius smoothly sliding over to the seat next to Snape's. He whispered something in his ear and slipped him a piece of paper.

Professor Flitwick came back before I could ask what was going on.

* * *

That night, there was a full moon. Which meant one thing:

Remus would be turning into a werewolf.

The four of us headed over to the Weeping Willow tree as usual. Peter turned into a rat, as usual, and tapped the knot, making the Weeping Willow freeze up. Then we all headed into the tunnels.

We walked all the way down to the Shrieking Shack, and waited for Remus to transform. Once he did, me and Sirius would transform into our Animagi forms, and we'd all go on our latest adventure.

Then it all went wrong.

"What's going on down here?" a voice asked. I spun around and saw Snape.

In any other situation, I would've come up with a witty remark, before hexing him. But this was differemt. Snape was in serious danger. When Remus transformed...

And then it happened. Remus screamed, and the scream turned into a howl. He hunched over, as his limbs started growing and fur sprouted all over his body. Snouts and claws emerged.

I ran and grabbed Snape. "You'd better get out of here!" I told him, and I pushed him towards the entrance to the tunnel.

We both started running, and I winced as I listened to Remus's trnasformation.

Suddenly, the noise stopped.

Then I heard growling.

Remus was a wolf.

And he was onto our human scent.

I glanced at Snape, who looked caught between anger, disbelief, and pure fear.

I cursed to myself. Why'd the git have to come down here?

I nudged him. "Go, quick, get to the edge of the tunnel!"

He did. Man, that slimeball could run.

But wolves run faster. I turned around to see Sirius, who'd transformed himself into a dog, trying to hold back Remus, but Remus just kept fighting back, equally hard.

I looked back and forth between them and Snape. Should I go back and help Sirius, and run the risk of Snape finding out I was an illegal Animagus?

If I did, we could all be arrested. Remus would be all alone during his trnasformations.

On the other hand, it became clear that Sirius was about to lose. And although I knew Sirius was tough enough to keep himself from getting hurt too much, he'd still be in trouble, and also it meant Remus would have a clear shot at Snape.

I groaned. I didn't have time to continue contemplating the pros and cons. Remus was about to attack any moment now.

I had to make a decision _now_.

Suddenly, Peter, as a rat, scurried up to me. He quickly transformed to his human form, and said, "Go, Sirius and I have this."

I looked at him skeptically, but before I could argue, Peter was a rat again, and was rushing off towards the fight.

I ran after Snape.

Of course, Snape had gotten a head start on me, but that didn't matter. I was a faster runner than him any day.

I caught up to him, and shouted encouragement. "Come on! We're almost there! Just a little farther!"

But Snape was too tired. I ended up having to go behind him and actually push him forward.

Finally, we managed to reach the end of the tunnel. We each climbed out.

I hunched over, breathing heavily. "How...did...you...know how...to...get past the...tree?"

Snape sneered, which was probably difficult to do when he was panting so much. "Your idiot of a best friend told me everything."

My eyes widened.

Once we were done panting, we entered the castle, and were led to Dumbledore's office. He, of course, already knew what had happened, but he surprisingly didn't get angry at either of us for being down in the tunnels. Instead, he simply asked me for my story, which I quickly made up (in my story, I'd walked with Remus down to the tunnel, and we parted. I was about to head to the castle, but then Snape ran after Remus and I went into the tunnels after him.)

It was a good thing Snape didn't bother correcting me. Maybe it was the threatening glares I kept sending him.

Dumbledore made Snape promise not to tell anyone about Remus's condition. Then we were excused.

The next morning, I confronted Sirius about telling Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow. He admitted he'd thought it would be a funny piece of revenge if Snape went down there.

I refused to talk to him that whole day. But it's hard to ignore someone who's practically your brother. We were talking again soon enough.

* * *

**Do you know how many times I rewrote this chapter? At first, it was REALLY REALLY bad, and the entire thing was over in like two seconds. I hope you liked this version, because I really don't know how .i could've made it better.**

**Anywas review!**


	12. Oh, well, I see how it is!

**Hey guys! Thanks a million for the reviews!**

**Guest: Aww, thanks! 3**

**apoorvan77: Believe me, the effects are going to be subtle, but they'll be there.**

**Disclaimer: I can't even claim the rights to the plot for this chapter. The first part is mine, the second pretty much is all JK Rowling,**

**Review!**

* * *

Lily's POV:

Me, Mary, and Marlene were walking down the hallways. Alice was off doing who-knows-what with Frank, and Mary was telling us a detailed story she came up with. "It'll become more famous than Beedle The Bard and Grimm's Tales put together, you wait! Oh, it's an amazing story, let me tell you..."

Suddenly, down the hall, I noticed Severus talking with one if his Slytherin friends, Mulciber. I excused myself from Marlene and Mary.

"Wait, Lily, where are you going?" Marlene asked.

"I'm gonna go talk to Severus."

"Severus? Severus Snape? What've you got to say to _him_?"

"Just let me talk, alright? I'll be back straightaway, promise!"

I ran off and said hi to Severus. He and Mulciber exchanged a look, and Severus awkwardly walked with me. Mulciber just continued walking.

"Hey Sev," I said breathlessly.

He smiled. "Hey Lily. How're you?"

"I'm good. We haven't spoken much since this summer?"

He bit his lip. "Sorry about that. I've been spending so much time with the other Slytherins—"

"It's alright, it's alright. It's not completely your fault, either, I've been hanging out with my fellow Gryffindors, too."

He frowned slightly, but before I could ask, he asked "Let's hang out sometime later, alright?"

Now it was my turn to frown. "Can't we just hang out now?"

He smiled apologetically. "Sorry Lily, but Mulciber is probably expecting me, so..." he trailed off.

I nodded. "Oh, that's alright, then. Maybe Thursday afternoon? Meet me by the Entrance, alright?"

He grinned. "Okay. See ya, Lily."

He left to meet with Mulciber again, and I returned to Marlene and—

"Mary! What happened!?"

Mary was on the ground, quivering and shaking. I turned to Marlene, who was just staring at Mary in shock. I grabbed Marlene by the shoulders and shook her. Marlene came to, so I asked her what happened.

"Mulciber...when you went to talk with Snape, Mulciber came over and did some spell. Mary just started twitching and fidgeting, I don't know..." she trailed off, shaking her head. Her eyes were still wide with shock.

"Well, help me get her to Madame Pomfrey!" I exclaimed, and the two of us picked her up. Looking into Mary's eyes, I grew even more frightened. She had a distant, uncomprehending look in her eyes.

We ran even faster.

We soon caught up to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey took a look at her, and called Professor Dumbledore down.

"Listen girls, Dumbledore will help. You two don't worry. She'll be back on her feet in no time."

After several minutes of useless pleading, the two of us returned to our dorms in silence.

* * *

I met up with Severus on Thursday as planned. But what was supposed to be a casual meetup with friends quickly escalated into yet another argument.

"But Lily, I thought we were supposed to be friends? Best friends?"

I groaned, "We are, Sev, but I don't like some of the people you're hanging round with! I'm sorry, but I detest Avery and Mulciber! Mulciber! What do you see in him, Sev, he's creepy! D'you know what he tried to do to Mary McDonald the other day?" I leaned against a pillar and waited for his explanation.

"That was nothing," he insisted. "It was a laugh, that's all—"

I stared at him. "It was Dark Magic, and if you think that's funny—"

"What about the stuff Potter and his mates get up to?" He asked.

I was surprised at his mention of the Marauders. "What's Potter got to do with anything?"

"They sneak out at night. There's something weird about that Lupin. Where does he keep going?" he asked.

I assumed he was just trying to change the subject. But I couldn't help but respond. "He's ill! They say he's ill—"

"Every month at the full moon?" he countered.

"I know your theory. Why are you so obsessed with them anyway? Why do you care what they're doing at night?"

"I'm just trying to show you they're not as wonderful as everyone seems to think they are."

I couldn't help it. He was staring at me so hard, I blushed. But I quickly recomposed myself. "They don't use Dark Magic, though. And you're being really ungrateful. I heard what happened the other night. You went sneaking down that tunnel by the Whomping Willow, and James Potter saved you from whatever's down there — "

Severus's whole face contorted and he spluttered, "Saved? Saved? You think he was playing the hero? He was saving his neck and his friends' too! You're not going to—I won't let you—"

"Let me? Let me?" I interrupted. Who was he to "let" me do anything?

Severus suddenly backtracked. "I didn't mean—I just don't want to see you made a fool of...He fancies you, James Potter fancies you! And he's not . . . everyone thinks ... big Quidditch hero—"

I raised my eyebrows, "I know James Potter's an arrogant toerag. I don't need you to tell me that. But Mulciber's and Avery's idea of humor is just evil. Evil, Sev. I don't understand how you can be friends with them."

I walked away from him before he could reply.

Why was he like this? I didn't understand. I returned to our dorms.

Mary was there, and she was telling everyone how she had bravely fought off five Slytherins, but on of them snuck behind her and cursed her.

Marlene and I exchanged amused glances at Mary's exagerration. But we let it slip.

I went up to my dorm and did homework. Maybe it'd keep my mind off all that's goingon with Severus and the other Slytherins.

* * *

**Sorry this chapter stunk! I was going to add more conversation to right before the "I thought we were supposed to be friends" bit, but I couldn't think of anything.**

**Okay, and, the next few chapters will be less copying from the book!**

**Don't forget to review! *bats eyelashes***


	13. Just Pick a Dress! (and a date)

**Well, hey guys! What's shakin'?**

**Hey, remember in Chapter 10 when I said James would ask Lily out, and it turned out to be a lie?**

**Well I promise you, in this chapter, it'll happen!**

**Pinky promise!**

**Disclaimer: I'm an aspiring writer, I'm a high school student, I'm a traitor to chocolate, and I'm kind of hungry, but I'm not JK Rowling. Any recognizable characters or elements belong to her. *tear***

**Well, hope you like this chapter! Remember to make my day and review!**

* * *

Lily's POV:

The next few months at Hogwarts breezed by.

Before long, my friends and I* were giggling and getting excited and acting like stereotypical teenage girls.

Hogwarts was hosting a Spring Dance, but this time all of the students were allowed to attend, not just the older students.

Alice, we agreed, had it easiest out of the four of us. She already had a boyfriend, so she had no problem picking a date. Her beautiful long blonde hair* was easily matched with a beautiful pink dress from the dress shop in Hogsmeade.

Marlene also had it easy. Honestly, she was probabaly the prettiest girl in the fouth year, and she quickly scored a date with a cute Hufflepuff named Trey Jackson. Her dress was a deep blue, which matched her eyes perfectly, and her long black hair looked super beautiful against it.

Mary went with a more fun dress: White with yellow polka dots. It looked super cute with her light brown curls. She had some trouble getting a date, but ended up going with a Gryffindor the year above us, Bill Robbins*

It seemed that I couldn't find a single dress to suit my taste. All of them were either too plain or too elaborate, too colorful, or too dull. When I found one that suited my skin tone, it looked awful with my hair, but if I found one that matched my hair, it looked awful with my skin tone.

After a lot of deliberation, and an angry Marlene yelling at me to pick a dress "_now_", I ended up with a simple white dress with touches of silver. It didnt look as good on me as the other dresses looked on my friends, but it didn't look dreadful, either.

But one problem still stood: I didn't have a date.

Of course, it would be perfectly acceptable for me to go with a group of friends, but since all of them already had dates, I couldn't help but feel that I would be mortified going with them. Lily Evans, the only one of her friends who couldn't get a date!

I sighed. What was I going to do?

I decided to go to my home-away-from-home: The Gryffindor common room. I'd read a good book, relax, and maybe I'd clear my head.

There had to be _somebody_ available out there I could ask.

I walked over to the entrance. There was the Fat Lady, admiring her nails.

"I'm getting ready for the dance, too," she told me after I told her the current password. "I may not be a student, but I still like to dress up for these occasions."

I climbed through the portrait hole and was about to settle into an empty chair when I was interrupted by James running from his friends towards me.

"Hey, Evans!" he said with a grin on his face.

"Err...hullo, Potter."

He tilted his head slightly to the side. "Fancy meeting you here."

"It's the common room, I'm always here," I replied, slightly confused.

He laughed, "I know, I was just joking."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, if you excuse me—"

"Actually, Evans, wait," he interrupted, sticking his arm out in front of me. "I was actually wondering if you'd go to the dance with me?"

I gave him an uneasy look. "What? Has your date cancelled or something?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Actually..." he stuck his hands in his pockets, "I haven't asked anyone yet."

I stared at him for a few seconds, trying to figure out if he was being serious or not. I couldn't tell, so I went with the safest answer I knew.

"No."

He frowned. "Why not? D'you already have another date?" He slapped his hand onto his face, "Someone just asked you out, I'm so stupid!"

I laughed. "Yeah, you are stupid. Glad we covered that. And no, I don't have another date."

His eyebrows scrunched up. "Then why won't you go out with me?"

"Umm, I don't know, Potter, because you act like a jerk to a lot of people? Now, if you excuse me, I'd like the start reading this book." I pushed my way over to a chair and sat down.

"A jerk?" I heard James mumble quietly to himself. "I'm not a jerk, who'd refuse _me_?"

I tried to ignore him at this point, but I couldn't. I ended up watching him as he returned to his friends, looking slightly dejected.

Honestly, I almost would've felt sorry for him. Almost. I knew James, though, and he had a reputation for going out with girls for a few days, then dropping them as if nothing had ever happened between them. All of those girls were very silly girls, too.

I certainly wasn't one of those silly girls. I wasn't going to fall for his charm just to be made a fool of later.

_Still_, I thought, as I watched him sitting with his friends, who were obviously trying to cheer him up.

I watched Remus pat his back, when it hit me. _Remus! Remus doesn't have a date yet! I can ask Remus!_

Remus was an alright bloke, he wouldn't use a girl, he'd be nice. He may be a Marauder, but he's sensible and doesn't have an ego the size of the Giant Squid.

I watched the Marauders from oer my book, waiting until James, Sirius, and Peter one by one left and entered their dormitories. Soon it was just Remus left, with his own book he was reading. I took this opportunity to walk lver to him.

"Hey, Remus."

He looked up. "Oh, hey, Lily."

"D'you s'pose we could go to the dance together? I know neither of us have dates yet..."

His eyes grew wide. "Umm...I don't think Pr—James would like that very much."

I shook my head quickly. "We'd only be going as friends, don't worry 'bout it."

He still seemed reluctant. "I don't know..."

"Sirius has a date, why shouldn't you? And if James is really your friend, he'd understand that you're not really stealing his imaginary date from him." I reasoned.

He cracked a grin at that. "Alright, then, as friends."

I smiled. "See you then."

* * *

**Don't kill me for making Lily go with Remus! There's not going to be _any_ romance between the two, I promise. But I do have a very specific reason for having them go to the dance together.**

**1) Just wanted to point out my proper use of grammar here :P**

**2) I have no idea what hair colors some of these characters have, so I'm making them up as I go along.**

**3) Demelza's Daddy! Wait, is her dad a wizard? Lets just say for the sake of the story that he is.**

**Well, only thing left to say is: REVIEW! I shan't post the next chapter until I get some reviews!**


	14. Why I Took Divination

**Hi everyone! And welcome to the amazing Chapter Twelve of "Learning to Love Him"!**

**Wow! That last chapter got me more reviews than ANY other chapter! Thanks so much, guys!**

**Disclaimer: Anything you can find in the seven books doesn't belong to me, but JK Rowling. But the individual plot is totally mine. Huzzah.**

**Remember, if you like it, even just a little, review! Reviews mean more to me than follows or favorites! They make me feel loved, they make me feel motivated. I don't update chapters if I don't get reviews.**

**Well, enjoy! Time for a little Jealous Jamsie!**

* * *

Remus's POV:

"She asked _what_?!"

I groaned. Why did I let myself get talked into this?

I was in the fourth years boys' dormitories. I had just told my friends about my date to the dance.

Needless to say, James was _not_ taking it well.

"You _knew_ I fancy her! You said it yourself! Why would you say yes, Moony? Why? I called dibs!"

I sighed. "Once again, Prongs, I must remind you, YOU CAN'T CALL DIBS ON A HUMAN BEING!"

"I beg to differ," Sirius's voice piped up.

I glared at him, and he just laughed. I turned to James, who was still wearing a face of hurt.

I sighed, and took a deep breath. "Listen, mate, Lily and I are just going as friends. Neither of us had a date—"

"I DON'T HAVE A DATE, EITHER!"

Sirius piped up again. "So I take it you'd rather take Moony to the ball?"

Peter laughed, until James and I both glared at him, and he swallowed his laughter. We turned back to each other.

"I thought we were friends, Moony?" James said, shooting me a pleading look,

I snorted. "You're not making me feel guilty this time, Prongs. Listen, I told you, we're going to the dance as friends. I don't fancy her, and I honestly doubt she likes me much. After all, I hang out with _you_ lot."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius cried indignantly. We chose to ignore him.

"If she doesn't like you, why would she ask you out?"

"The dance is in two days! He first choice was probably taken!"

He sat down now, looking dejected. "_I'm_ not taken. What kind of girl would rather go out with you instead of me?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sirius and Peter burst out laughing, so I turned to them and told them to can it.

James looked at me. "Nothing, mate!" he said in a panic. "I just meant that I'm pretty much the star of the Quidditch team, and most girls love me!"

"Since when is Evans _most girls_?"

James looked at me for a few moments before replying. "Yeah, you're right. Evans is different. She's..." he struggled for the right word, "exceptional."

* * *

Lily's POV:

On the day of the dance, me and my friends were anxiously sitting outside the portrait hole, waiting for our dates to arrive. I myself started getting second thoughts about my date.

_Oh, Merlin, what in the world was I thinking? Remus is Marauder! He's no better than James or Sirius! And why did I suggest we go as friends? We're not friends! We barely know each other!_

I soon managed to calm myself down, although I still felt uneasy..

Frank was the first to arrive, of course. We quickly said our goodbyes to Alice as she and her boyfriend cheerfully headed for the dance.

Next out of the portrait holes were the Marauders.

James, of course, had a new date, a pretty brunette I didn't recognize. I tried my best not to look offended at the obvious way James had gotten over me.

Sirius also had a pretty girl by his side, a blonde. I was surprised when I quickly recognized her as Audrey Lynn, a fifth year prefect from Ravenclaw. How did Sirius get a prefect the year above?

I didn't want to know.

Peter didn't appear to have a date, or, at least he hadn't met up with her yet. I tried not to feel too sorry for him as I walked up to Remus.

Remus looked very nervous, so I flashed him a quick smile. He gave sort of an awkward smile back.

The seven of us all headed for the Great Halll. I waved quickly at Mary and Marlene. I couldn't help but notice Marlene's slightly shocked face that I was willingly walking with James Potter and Sirius Black.

As we reached the Great Hall, I gasped along with the other two girls.

It was so beautiful.

Rainbow lights were shining everywhere, illuminating every enchanted flower. I also noticed excitingly that there were lilies. It seems cheesy, but lilies really were my favorite flower. I stared at them for a few moments, before I noticed the flowers planted right next to them.

Petunias.

I immediately turned away from those. I had came here to have a good time, not to think about the strained relationship between me and my sister.

And yet, I couldn't help but watch the the two groups of flowers as they mixed, as they intertwined with each other.

They seemed to be getting along so well.

I sighed. Would me and my sister ever be as close as we once were?

"So...erm..." Remus said from next to me, rubbing his hand up and down his arm nervously. "Should we...umm...dance, then?"

I nodded. "Sure."

We walked in and started dancing. Or at least we tried to. The awkwardness in the atmosphere hung between the two of us.

I tried to loosen things up. "You know Remus, there's no need to be so nervous."

His face froze for a moment, before he snapped out of it. "Sorry. It's just...this is the first time I've ever been out with a girl, even if we are just going as friends."

Now it was my turn to freeze. "Really? You've _never_ been out with a girl?"

He shook his head.

I raised my eyebrows. "Wow. I would've assumed..."

"What?" he asked, looking slightly confused.

I bit my lip. "Well, you're a Marauder. You guys are pretty well known throughout the entire campus. Lots of people look up to you. I would've thought you'd've gone out with at least a couple girls. I know James and Sirius have."

He simply shrugged, clearly not sure what to say.

I shook my head. "Well, I'm a girl, I can help you out. You know, tell you what girls like, for future refernce. Here, look..."

* * *

James's POV:

My date, Stephanie, was alright, but I really didn't really know her that well. And, frankly, I didn't really like her enough to really want to get to know her.

While me and Stephanie were dancing, I found myself continuously glancing over at Lily and Remus. I kept on reminding myself about what Remus had said.

_They're just friends, they're just friends, they're just going out as—_

Lily and Remus moved in closer. Remus wrapped his arms around her tighter, and they started leaning in...

I couldn't watch. I normally would've busted in and broke the two apart, but I couldn't do that to a friend, even if he was stealing the girl of my dreams.

Instead, I reached over and looked straight at Stephanie. "You wanna get out of here?"

Stephanie giggled and nodded. I grabbed her hand, and the two of us quickly made our way out of the Great Hall.

* * *

Remus's POV:

"And now," Lily told me, when we had gotten so close our foreheads were touching, "would be the perfect time to deliver a romantic line. You can steal it from a film—you know what a film is, right?"

"Yeah," I replied. "My mum's a Muggle."

"Well, you can steal a cheesy line from a romance film, if you like, and then you kiss her. You got all that?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I think so...can we move apart now? I'm starting to feel even more awkward than when we first got here."

She laughed, and the two of us tore apart. "Well, I think I've given you enough tips. You can survive on your own after that, right?"

"We can only hope," I joked, and we both laughed.

"So..." she started.

"So..."

"So...you're in Divination with me, right? Isn't that class just a load of rubbish?"

I nodded eagerly. "I knew it would be when we first signed up. But Padfoot practically forced us all."

"Padfoot?"

"Sirius. We all have nicknames for each other." I paused. "I'm Moony."

"Huh. Well, okay. Why'd Sirius force you lot into Divination?"

I laughed, grateful that she didn't ask why my nickname was Moony. "Because, Sirius fancies Professor Lornell*, and he didn't want to take the class alone.

Lily laughed with me and we ended up talking and laughing the rest of the night. It turned out that we had a lot of the same interests and opinions. By the end of the dance, I felt I knew her much better. I could understand why James liked her so much, even though I didn't like her in _that_ way.

When the dance was over, Lily stuck out her hand. "Well, _Moony_, I had a great time. You're a good friend." She smiled.

I smiled back. "Likewise," I told her, and shook her outstretched hand.

Then we went our separate ways.

* * *

**Well, there you have it! I probably had too much fun writing this chapter, and I hope you had fun reading it!**

**1) Do you know who the old Divination teacher was? I just made up Lornell.**

**Remember to review! Maybe you could tell me what liked/disliked about this chapter, so I can improve!**

**PEACE OUT 'til next time!**


	15. I'm a Prefect!

**Hey guys, I'm baaaaaaacckk!**

**Are you guys ready for fifth year? I know I am!**

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**laurel (Guest): Professor Trelawney couldn't have been teaching when Lily and James were there, because Dumbledore was meeting her at Hogs Head to discuss her getting the job, and he hadn't known her previously. This was when she told him the prophecy about Harry, and Snape, who was already a Death Eater, overheard.**

**Disclaimer: If there was an AU where I owned Harry Potter, that would be epic, but we're stuck in reality. I don't own anything you can find in the seven Harry Potter books.**

**Review, please!**

* * *

Lily's POV:

Fifth year was approaching. Petunia acted just as cruel to me as ever, maybe even more.

I anxiously waited for the letters from Hogwarts. Then I could go to Diagon Alley and maybe meet up with Marlene!

Soon enough, the letter arrived. I quickly opened it, and something fell out. I picked it up...

A prefect badge!

I'm a prefect!

* * *

Remus's POV:

When the Hogwarts owl came in, I thanked the owl and examined the letter. It seemed extra thick, which surprised me.

But when I opened it, and saw the prefect badge in there, I couldn't have been more surprised.

I'm a prefect!

* * *

James's POV:

The letters for me and Sirius quickly arrived by owl. Me and Sirius opened our letters at the same time. There was an addition to my letter that had never been there before, and when I saw it, I quickly got excited.

I'm Quidditch captain!

* * *

Lily's POV:

I sat in the prefect's compartment next to Remus, listening to the Head Boy and Girl tell us our duties.

When I first got there, I had been super excited. Audrey had said hi to me. I supposed she recognized me from the dance.

When Remus walked into the compartment, I wasn't the least bit surprised. Remus was probably the most responsible boy in the entire fifth year. I sat next to him as the Heads ticked off each task we needed to take.

Once they had finished, we were freed to go, but both me and Remus were instructed to patrol the train. We got to discuss our new classes. It turned out both of us had already read a great deal of this year's schoolbooks.

"Hey, mind if I check in with my friends for a moment?" he asked me when we had reached the Marauder's compartment.

I nodded, and we both walked in.

I hadn't shared a train compartment with any of the Marauders since my first day at Hogwarts, and that definitely didn't end paticularly well.

But things change, and hopefully, this time, "things" would mean "James".

Peter's head was the first head to pop up at the sound of the compartment door opening. He stared at me for a moment, slack-jawed. I rolled my eyes at his surprise. Sirius and then James quickly looked up and noticed me and Remus.

Sirius nudged James with his elbow, and whispered something, and then snickered. James glared at him momentarily, before glancing at me. There was an odd expression on his face, but I couldn't make out what it was.

"Hey," Remus said to them, plopping down on one of the seats. I stook there awkwardly for a moment, before sitting next to Remus.

"Hey Moony," Peter said, smiling. "Guess what my dad got me? Oh, it's the coolest," and he shuffled through his bag quickly.

I turned to look at the other two in the compartment. The both of them were staring at me.

Suddenly, James spoke up. "What're you doing in here?"

"Sitting, apparently," Sirius said, and James slapped his arm gently.

I simply scoffed. "I have a right to be here, you know."

"Yeah, but you've never come before."

"Fine then, I'll leave," I replied, about the stand up, when James leaned forward and pushed me down. I glared at him.

"Honestly, Evans, it was just a question. I never said I _wanted_ you to leave."

I kept glaring at him.

"Really, Prongs," Remus said. "She just followed me."

I nodded shortly at James, then turned to Remus. "I probably should get going anyways, someone needs to do rounds."

"I'll come with you," he said, standing up, but I shook my head. "Stay with your friends, I've got this."

He nodded, and turned back to Peter. I stepped outside my compartment and continued with rounds.

Going into that compartment was probably the least productive thing I could've done.

* * *

Sirius's POV:

The moment Lily left, James turned on Remus.

"I thought you two were just friends!"

"We are!"

"Oh really? 'Cause you two are acting an awful lot like a couple!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Going into the same compartment, the flirting—"

"_Flirting?_ How on earth was that flirting?"

I laughed. "You two are too funny!"

"Zip it, Snuffles!" James retorted, and I huffed.

"Alright, maybe that wasn't flirting, but you definitely offered to walk with her—"

"We're prefects! That's kind of our job!"

James groaned in annoyance. "Just what I needed. Lily and Remus, _both_ prefects!"

"You sound surprised."

"Not in the least."

* * *

**Why do I feel like this chapter sucked? I feel like it sucks. It sucks, doesn't it?**

**Gah. Sorry 'bout that. I promise to make up for this sorry chapter next time! I suffered from writer's block, and it turned from the suspenseful thing I was tying to write, into a dumb uneventful filler.**

**Review anyways? I'll love you forever! :)**


	16. My Mum is My Dad is Peter's Dad

**How's everyone doing right now? Hope you're great! Or better!**

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**apoorvam77: Yeah, I had writer's block writing that last chapter, and when that happens my writing tends to be choppy.**

**Guest: Aww, your review was _so__ sweet_! :)))))**

**Disclaimer—**

**Turtle: Message for JK Rowling!**

**Me: I'll take it.**

**Turtle: But you're not JK Rowling. You didn't even write the Harry Potter books, which means that any recognizable characters or elements in this story don't belong to you.**

**Me: I can't even fool a turtle!**

**Turtle: I take offense to that comment. Are turtles inferior to humans, or what?**

**Me: *awkwardly* The readers want to read the chapter, Shelly!**

**Turtle: My name's Stewart.**

**Me: Who cares?**

**Stewart the Turtle: I care! Stop treating me like a mindless animal!**

**Me: Let's take this conversation somewhere else. The readers would rather read about the Lily and the Marauders than this!**

**Stewart the Turtle: Fine then.**

**REVIEW! And enjoy!**

* * *

Lily's POV:

Remus and I found ourselves spending lots of time together during prefect rounds. If someone had told me a year ago, on this day, that I would be spending time with a Marauder and enjoying myself a lot, I never would've believed it. But sure enough, here I was.

We would walk around, talking nonstop, only pausing whenever we caught students breaking the rules. Some of the rules would constantly be broken, such as the possesion of banned items. I'd remind the students that our caretaker, Apollyon Pringle, had forbidden Fanged Frisbees or whatever other stuff they had, and Remus would quickly confiscate them.

I suspected that Remus would keep all that stuff and bring them to the Marauders. At first I had been angry, but the anger eventually simmered down to mild irritation and slight amusement.

On the other hand, some of the rulebreakers were up to much worse. We caught quite a few third years who Remus called "Wannabe Marauders". They pranks were clever, but even I had to admit they weren't done with the enthusiasm or the brilliance of the Marauders. And, of course, they were caught in the act much more easily than the Marauders.

And then of course we had a few embarrassing moments, too. I would never want to admit the number of times we caught couples who had snuck into broom closets and empty classrooms.

But, despite all this, the rounds were uneventful for the most part. This gave us lots of time to talk.

In the past, the majority of our conversations had been school-related, but as we got to know each other better, we started opening up to each other.

Remus proved to be an active listener. I would talk for ever such a long time about my troubles and my life.

I told him about my parents, and how supportive they've been, even if a little ignorant.

I told him about my sister. He seemed extremely sympathetic and offered consolation. I told him about Vernon, and how rude he had been when I'd met him at first. I told him of how me and my sister had fought soon afterwards, and how she told me that she hated me. I told him how much it hurt because, despite all that, she still was my sister, always had been, and how I loved her no matter how she felt towards me.

I noticed that Remus opened his mouth like he wanted to respond to this, but he evidently changed his mind and gestured for me to continue speaking.

I told him how much fun we used to have when we were little. We had used to be best friends. Sure, there had always been a slight estrangement that sprouted from my occasional bursts of accidental magic, but for the most part we had been inseparable.

Soon enough, I found myself talking about Severus.

I told Remus about how Severus had been the one who had first told me about magic and the Wizarding World, and, how he had told me that being Muggleborn wouldn't make a difference. I told him about how Severus seemed to understand me when no one else did, and how, as me and my sister started drifting apart, me and Severus grew closer.

Remus seemed surprised to hear all of this. I understood, though. After all, Severus was a Slytherin, and everyone knew that there was a huge rivalry between the Marauders and the Slytherins. But Remus accepted the truth.

I asked about his life. He seemed extrmely hesistant to confide in me, but he started talking, mostly about his parents. He told stories about his childhood and how his parents always put extra effort into being good parents. He soon started talking about his friends, the Marauders. It was fascinating to hear of their antics, both in and away from Hogwarts, and it was interesting to hear them from Remus's point of view. I soon found out that Remus disapproved of most of their pranks, but he also told me that James and Sirius were both extraordinarily stubborn, and there was no stopping them or holding them back. The best, Remus said, he could do, was "tame" their pranks, making sure they didn't step too far out of line.

I noticed something odd, though. I had been completely honest when talking to him. And, although I knew Remus wasn't the sort to directly lie to me, it still seemed like he was holding back.

One night, Remus was telling me a story about when the Marauders had visited his house during the summer. Apparently they had been visiting the beach, and Sirius had spotted some Muggle girls in bikinis, and tried to impress them. The other three boys had found everything quite amusing, as apparently all the girls were fighting each other to get a closer look. But then Mrs. Lupin soon realized that Sirius was using magic, only a little, but still, it was enough. She had to rush forward and drag him away.

I was laughing along with Remus as he told the story. We were having a great time, until something striked me as odd.

"Remus, I thought your mum had a serious illness."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Yeah, she does."

"Then how was she able to rush forward and stop Sirius?"

His eyes widened quickly. He nervously replied, "Did I say it was my mum? I meant my dad. It was my dad."

"But you said your dad was away on some business trip."

He froze. His next words came out very slowly. "It was...Peter's dad. I meant Peter's dad."

I gave him a look. "Remus, first you said it was your mum, now you're saying it was Peter's dad. What's wrong?"

He chuckled, extremely nervously. "I just...err...have an extremely bad memory."

"Then explain how you got all O's on your final exams last year."

He turned away from me and started walking. "I dunno, I was just lucky I suppose. Look, we'd better finish these rounds, or McGonagall will—"

I drowned him out of my thoughts.

Remus had an extremely superb memory, which means it must have been his mum who stopped Sirius. And she must not be extremely ill, or she wouldn't have been at the beach at all, let alone run forward and stop a 15 year old boy with the energy of Sirius.

But if Mrs. Lupin wasn't ill, then why would Remus disappear every month?

Suddenly a thought came to me. A memory, a theory Severus had shared with me long ago. A fact I had ignored for so long yet made so much sense...

"—and I don't want detention, Lily, that sort of thing is best left to James or—"

"You're a werewolf."

* * *

**What'd you think this time? I really hope you liked it! I sort of rambled on for the most of it, didn't I? :/**

**Well, at any rate I thought you'd like to know that me and Stewart the Turtle have now become friends, haven't we, Stewart!**

**Stewart: Sure have!**

**Me: You might just be seeing more of him in these author's notes. Maybe**

**Review! I really depend on reviews, they make me feel confident about my writing!**


	17. No, I'm not dating the werewolf

**HEY GUYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Whatsup?**

**(Stewart: The sky.)**

**Anyways, I don't really know what to say other than, enjoy this chapter!**

**daenesme: Stewart's very glad you like him, aren't you, Stewart? (Stewart: Sure am!)**

**apoorvam77: Thanks! My number one concern with my writing is that it doesn't flow very well, so your review made me feel pretty relieved :D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Neither does Stewart.**

**(Stewart: Well duh. I'm a turtle.)**

* * *

Lily's POV:

Remus stayed silent for a while. I actually started to worry that something was wrong.

Finally he laughed nervously. "Lily, don't be ridiculous. Me? A werewolf? Dumbledore would never let a werewolf in Hogwarts. Danger to the students, you know."

I looked at him. "Really? That's your play? Remus, you and I both know Dumbledore well enough. Don't say he'd exclude any young wizard, werewolf or not."

He stopped walking. Finally he took a deep breath and turned to me. He looked me straight in the eye.

I stared him down intently. "Remus, don't lie to me."

He looked at me for one more moment, then dropped his eyes. "Yeah, I'm a werewolf."

I watched him curiously for another moment, not speaking. Honestly, I didn't know what to say.

Finally, he glanced up at me in confusion. Neither of us spoke, just looked at each other.

Suddenly I started giggling. "Well I feel stupid now. I mean, it was so _obvious_!"

He didn't join in with my laughter. He just looked at me oddly.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head. "You're so weird, Lily. You find out you're alone in a corrider with a monster, and all you do is _giggle_?"

I stopped giggling. "Who said you're a monster?"

"Lily. What part of _I'm a werewolf_ don't you understand?"

"The monster part. In my book, a monster is a heartless beast. And you're not that. You're just Remus, wolf or not. If you were going to attack me, you would've. I mean, you've had over four years to do it."

He laughed abruptly. "That's almost exactly what James said to me when he first found out." Then he gave me a look. "All the same though, I can't believe you're not, you know, scared of me."

I shook my head. Then I hesitated, then reached forward and wrapped my arms around him. He hugged me back for a moment, and we let go.

"See," I teased him. "I don't think a real monster would hug someone like that."

He grinned. "Alright, I'll take your word for it."

* * *

When we got back to the Gryffindor common room, we parted. I hugged Remus again, and I noticed that he looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders now that I knew his secret.

I noticed Mary sitting in a corner, all alone, her notes spread in front of her. She was watching me curiously. I decided to sit next to her, and maybe the two of us could study together. After all, it was OWLs year, as our Professors constantly reminded us.

"Hey, Mary!" I said, sitting down.

"Hey Lils. You seem happy," she noticed.

"Do I?" I asked, surprised.

She nodded. "Extremely so. What'd you and Remus do?"

I shrugged. "We did our rounds, busted another group of first years breaking curfew. We talked, too."

"'Bout what?"

I froze. Remus didn't say specifically that I had to keep quiet, but that was because he didn't have to. I knew he wouldn't want me telling people about his secret, and I wasn't about to break his trust. Instead, I answered Mary evasively. "Things. I ranted for quite a while about Petunia and Vernon. He's actually a really good listener."

Mary bit her lip. "Are you two..." she trailed off, looking down at her notes.

I frowned, confused. "Are we what?"

"Dating."

I stared at her for a moment. Then I laughed. "Me and Remus? Goodness, of _course_ we're not dating! We're friends, that's all."

She looked at me, then smiled. "Alright, I was just wondering. Cuz you know, you've been spending a lot of time together, after all."

"We do our prefect duties together, but that's all. Besides, he's always hanging round with his friends. And no way would I willingly spend time with Potter or Black."

She giggled. "I s'pose so. Hey, I'm almost done here, you wanna go meet Marlene and Alice? Actually, no, Alice is probably spending time with Frank. Frank's a decent bloke, isn't he? They're just so cute together!"

I laughed, then nodded. "Alright then."

We gathered her stuff into her bag, and headed for the portrait hole.

* * *

**Man, I am in a really bad habit of writing short chapters, huh?**

**So review! Remember to tell me what you thought! Tell me what you like, what you don't like, what you wanted more of, what you want less of.**

**Stewart the Turtle Says: See ya!**


	18. Shut Up and Ask Her Out

**Hey guys! How are you? :)**

**lolilovelily: Aww, thanks, your review was really sweet :)**

**laurel: Thanks so much for reviewing on all those chapters, it makes me feel special :)**

**Disclaimer: **

**Me: Stewart, any good news?**

**Stewart: Actually, yeah! JK Rowling handed all the rights to Harry Potter over to you!**

**Me: OMG OMG really? :D**

**Stewart: Haha, fooled you!**

**Me: :( so I still don't own any recognizable characters or elements from Harry Potter?**

**Stewart: Nope**

**Me: Dang it!**

* * *

Lily's POV:

"Mary."

"Lily."

"Mary."

"Marlene."

"Leave me out of this!"

"_Mary_," I repeated.

"Lily."

"Will you two quit it? You're infuriating!" Alice shouted at us. I looked at her in surprise.

"Me? Infuriating?"

"Yes, you!"

I huffed, and turned back to Mary. "Mary."

Mary leaned back and groaned. "Lily, whatever you have to say, I'm sure it can wait."

I raised my eyebrows. "And why would I wait? Let me guess, you have to go back and redo your hair."

She goggled at me. "My hair? My hair! Wha—why—what makes you think I'd want to do my hair?"

I shrugged, looking down at the issue of _Witch Weekly_ in my lap. "I dunno, maybe it's the fact that you've been fixing your hair every five minutes all week."

"I—my hair—you—"

"And for the first time, ladies and gentleman," Marlene said, "Mary MacDonald is lost for words!"

We all laughed, and Mary composed herself. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I rolled me eyes. "Don't be rediculous, Mary, it's obvious there's a boy you're trying to impress! Now, who is he?"

Mary stared at me. "Again, I don't know what you're..." her voice failing when she saw my unconvinced expression. "Okay, _maybe_ there's someone, but it's not a big deal, and certainly none of your business!" she huffed, yanking the magazine off my lap and opening it in front of her face.

I shook my head and tugged on the magazine, revealing her face. "Mary, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

She glared at me to no avail, before finally sighing in defeat. She leaned back in her chair, and the three of us leaned forward, eager to hear. "It's...Remus."

I gasped. "No wonder you asked me if I liked him the other day!"

Marlene, Alice, and I dragged Mary until she was sitting up.

Marlene asked, "How long have you liked him?"

We ended staying there for a good solid hour, listening to Mary rant about how she thought Remus was so refined and sweet and funny and more. Instead of finding it annoying, though, I found it cute.

When Mary seemed done, Alice was the first to speak up. "Well, it's obvious what to do, isn't it? We've got to set you two up!"

Mary's eyes widened. "No, Alice, no, don't do that, Alice, no."

Alice mocked her. "Yes, Mary, yes, it's the perfect idea, Mary, yes. I mean think about it! Lily can ask Remus if he likes you during rounds, and the two of you can go out, and maybe we can double date! I've never gone on a double date before! What do you say, Lils?"

I thought back to what Remus had told me last year during the dance. He had never gone out with a girl before, and I now realized it was probably because he was a werewolf.

Personally, I thought that was a stupid reason to not date someone. It wasn't like he was going to wolf up spontaneously during a date, he just had to make sure no dates were on the full moon.

So I nodded. "Of course! I've got rounds with him tomorrow, it'll be the perfect opportunity."

"So we're agreed?" Marlene asked.

"Umm, excuse me!" Mary interjected. "I haven't agreed on anything!"

"Yeah, we're agreed," Alice added, ignoring Mary completely. "Lily, it's all on you."

* * *

The evening started out perfectly normal. I waited outside the portrait hole, as usual. Remus came out two minutes later, as usual. Then he explained Sirius's latest antic that caused him to be late, as usual. Then I told him it was okay, as usual. Then we started walking, as usual.

We started chatting about our homework, and talking about our anticipation for the OWLs. They were still five months away, and our professors thought it appropriate to shove all of our information down our throats, reminding us every day how vicious they were.

Charming people, our professors.

Remus was talking about the latest lesson in Charms, when we noticed a first year Slytherin walking around, all alone. We promptly gave him a detention, and he walked away sulkily.

I watched him suspiciously. A first year Slytherin, by himself? Something seemed off.

But I decided not to dwell on that. I had a mission, after all.

I turned to Remus. "So, is there anyone lately you fancy?"

He gave me an odd look. "No...is there anyone _you_ fancy?"

"That's not the point right now," I said, shaking his question away. "Are you _sure_?"

"Why d'you want to know?" he asked suspiciously.

I decided just to be honest. "My friend Mary likes you."

He coughed. "Wh—what?"

I nodded. "Yeah, she does. Do you like her?"

He looked away from me.

"You _do_!" I shouted excitedly. Seeing as he didn't deny it, I continued, "You've got to ask her on a date!"

He shook his head violently. "Oh, I can't do that!"

"Why not?" I asked confusedly.

"Y'know..."

I gaped at him. "Remus John Lupin, is this because of your...err...monthly condition?"

He didn't answer. So I continued. "Remus, it doesn't make a difference what you are, Mary likes you for _you_. And if you're so intent on keeping this a secret, then just don't tell her. As long as you don't set a date on the full moon, and don't talk about your mother's lively actions," (he shot me a grin at this) "then there's nothing to worry about!"

He glanced at me. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. C'mon, Remus!"

He didn't say anything for a few moments, until he finally started nodding. "Alright, I'll ask her out tomorrow."

"You'll ask her out _today_," I corrected, before grabbing his arm and practically dragging him over to the Gryffindor common room. We told the Fat Lady the password, and walked in, my left hand still firmly holding his forearm. I noticed Mary and Marlene sitting in the chairs by the fire, talking, and I quickly grabbed Mary with my free arm, and dragged the two of them to a corner._  
_

"Go on," I said, nudging Remus.

He shot a nervous glance at Mary, who was giving him a hopeful look. "Mary, I was wondering if you'd like to Hogsmeade with me?"

She nodded eagerly. "Yes!"

He grinned. "Okay then. See you tomorrow?"

Mary nodded again. "Alright!"

He smiled at her, and she smiled back. Marlene and I were just watching from a distance, and grinning at each other about how cute the two were.

* * *

Remus's POV:

As I walked into the boys' dormitory, my head was racing at a mile a minute. Was I really going on a date? Was I really going to go on a date with Mary McDonald?

My head was buzzing so much, I didn't even notice Sirius talking to me until he shouted, "Oi! Moony! You there?"

I looked at him. "What was that?"

"I was asking what got you skipping and grinning like a lovestruck fool?"

"I've got a date," I told him. "And I am _not_ skipping."

"But you _are_ grinning. So, who's the girl? And why haven't we heard anything about this?"

I rolled my eyes. "Padfoot, do you always have to be so annoying? Anyways, the girl is Mary McDonald, and I didn't tell you I fancied her because last time I told you about a girl, as I recall, _YOU THREW THE TWO OF US IN A BROOM CLOSET AND LOCKED US IN_!"

"I was only trying to help!"

"I _still_ have the scars she gave me!"

"Battle scars, Moony, think of them as battle scars," he replied, and Peter started laughing.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, Lily proved to be much more helpful this time."

"Lily? Lily Evans?" James said, finally paying attention to our conversation.

"Yeah, she's the one who got me to ask Mary out."

"Really?" James asked, surprised. "Evans set you up with another girl?"

"Don't act so surprised, Prongs. How many times have I told you that there was nothing between us?"

Instead of answering, James looked off in the distance. "So she really isn't taken! This is great!"

I rolled my eyes. "Get some sleep, Prongs."

He nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah, alright, whatever you say. I must ask Evans out tomorrow!"

I stared at him. But instead of saying anything, I just shook my head at James's thoughtlessness. If I knew Lily, there was no way she'd go out with him. But I decided it would be more amusing to let James learn that the hard way.

He'd figure it out on his own.

Right?

* * *

**Ha, I had fun writing this chapter. I mean, girls being girls, boys being boys, and Sirius being not-serious. Good times.**

**So tell me what you thought! :)) I love your reviews!**


	19. It's not my secret, though, it's theirs!

**Stewart the Turtle: So, umm, the author's not actually here right now, so she told me to handle the disclaimer and ask you to review. So the disclaimer: We do not own any recognizable characters or plot elements that you can find in the books. And you should review. She likes them, she gets all giddy every time she gets a new review. It's a human thing, I guess.**

**Also, she told me to pass on the following messages:**

**NifflerGold12: Thanks for reading! Haha, I've done the same thing before, reading multiple fanfictions of the same story. And thanks for the compliment, I alwaysntry to make them as relevant as possible.**

**laurel (guest): Haha, thanks :))**

**VannahWeasley (Guest): OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEW IT MADE ME SO HAPPY! It totally cheered me up! And of course I can answer your questions! First of all, I'm going to make this story really long, and it'll go on just past Lily and James's deaths. I know, that sounds horrible, but I want to write about Sirius and Peter's confrontation and Sirius and Remus's emotional reactions to Jily's death and their friend's betrayal. And yes, I'm ging to stick to the story as much as possible, so he deaths will be the same as in the books.**

**Wow, I feel like I'm writing a tragedy here.**

**daenesme: All I have to say is: YAY!**

* * *

James's POV:

"Hey Evans, will you go out with me?"

"No."

* * *

Lily's POV:

On Sunday, the girls and I were sitting on our beds, talking about Mary and Remus.

Mary was talking all over the place, talking about what happened in Honeydukes one moment, before suddenly talking about the Three Brooksticks, then about Zonko's, before back to Honeydukes. Marlene, Alice, and I had to piece together the story from the bits Mary would tell us.

As far as I could tell, the date had gone really well. They had walked all through Hogsmeade, Mary telling him all about the history of each of the stores. She emphasized to us about how great a listener Remus was, which of course, I already knew.

The other three Marauders had apparently caught the two of them sitting in the snow together, and pelted them with snowballs. This had resulted in a huge snowball fight. Not surprisingly, the team with James, Sirius, and Peter had won, but after the three left, Remus and Mary had ended up kissing in the snow.

The entire story seemed really sweet, and Mary told it animatedly.

She wasn't the only one happy about it. When me and Remus did rounds later on, Remus obviously seemed happier and lighter. It was nice to see such a positive, spirited Remus for a change.

Remus told me about the date too. He told it briefly, nowhere near as detailed as Mary, but I could easily see that he felt the same way about it as Mary.

"Did Mary ask to go see the Shrieking Shack with you?" I asked him, curious. Remus had already explained that he went there for his transformations, so I wondered what his reaction would be going there when he wasn't about to turn into a monster.

"No, she didn't," Remus answered. "She actually looked kind of frightened when we passed it. She got kind of quiet, too. But I think that wasn't fear so much as that she didn't know enough about it to talk about it."

I laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't tell her, you being the expert and all."

"I almost did, though. But you know, she'd have asked how I knew so much, and I'd have to lie and make up a story." He sighed slightly. "I don't like lying to people so much."

I looked at him. "Are you ever going to tell her?"

He closed his eyes, and I could tell he was struggling with thought. "I—I don't know. Probably not."

I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it. What was I supposed to say?

Instead, I asked him a question I had been wondering about, but had always been too nervous to ask.

"Does it hurt when you transform?"

He gave me a look. "Very. But I've gotten used to it. And after all, it's not like I'm alone anymo—"

He froze.

I looked at him in confusion, before what he said clicked. "Remus..."

He refused to look at me. "So, what did Mary say abou—"

"Remus."

He groaned. "Lily, I don't think now's the time to—"

"Remus."

He made the mistake of turning around to look at me. The second he did, he noticed my expression and crumbled in defeat. "Alright, just, don't get mad."

"I won't," I promised, getting a little nervous as to where this was heading.

He talked slowly, as if choosing the right words so as not to get me angry. "The truth is, Peter, James, and Sirius sort of...accompany me to my transformations. To keep me from feeling lonely," he added in haste, as if that would make it all alright.

"They go with you to the Shrieking Shack? How are they not dead? Wait, they're not werewolves, too, are they?" I asked, my eyes growing wide.

"No no no of course they're not!" He quickly replied.

"Then how are they, you know, okay?"

"They're...I can't really tell you."

"Remus!"

"It's not my secret to tell!"

"I'll tell you one of my secrets," I said, trying to tempt him.

"It's not my secret to tell," he repeated.

I groaned. "Gosh, Remus, I can't believe you. First you set me up for this big secret, and now I can't even know?"

He looked at me guiltily. "They'd go mental if they knew I told you."

"Let them go mental. They could use it."

"Lily, that's not fair!"

"Your keeping this from me isn't fair either! I thought we were friends?" I mentally winced for using Severus's exact words.

"You're not making this easy."

"I'm not trying to make it easy."

"Lily."

"Remus."

"Lily."

"Remus."

"I can do this all day."

"So can I."

He glared at me, before walking away.

"Remus, come back!"

He kept walking.

"Fine, sheesh, I'll stop asking you! I figured it out already, anyways!"

He froze. "You did?"

I nodded. "Course." I tried not to make my lie obvious, but I had the feeling I was failing.

"Then what are they?"

"Err...Animagi?" I said. _Really, Lily?_ I thought to myself. _Animagi? That's the **best** you can come up_ _with?_

Remus froze. Then he whispered, "How did you find out?"

I went crazy. "Wait, they _are_? I was just kidding!"

We stared at each other, neither of us believing we had gotten ourselves into this situation.

Finally I spoke. "Animagi? Remus, you realize that's—"

"Illegal?"

I nodded.

"I know, but trust me, it wasn't my decision. I didn't even know about it until they transformed in the dorms one morning. Nearly scared the life out of me."

I laughed slightly. "Wow. But wait, how'd they do it? That stuff's nearly impossible."

He shrugged. "They're really good at Transfiguration. Or at least Sirius and James are. But they helped Peter out."

"Wow," I repeated. "What are their forms?"

He hesitated.

"Remus, you pretty much told me they were illegal Animagi. I don't really think you're going to make it much worse by telling me their forms.

"True," he started, before sighing. "Lily, you are something else. Anyways, Sirius is this rediculously huge dog, looks a lot like a Grim—"

"A what?"

"A Grim. Remember? Professor Lornell told us all about them—"

"Oh, right, never mind. Go on."

"Peter's a rat, see, and James is this deer."

"A dog, a rat, and a deer?"

"Well, technically he's a stag..."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"You got crazy friends, Moony," I said, before grinning at him about my use of his nickname. Then it hit me.

"Your nicknames."

"Yeah, that's where we got them from."

We just stood there in silence for a few minutes. Finally I added. "So, Mary?"

He grinned.

* * *

**Stewart the Turtle: The author would like me to tell you that she hopes you like this chapter and that you don't hate the idea that Remus would spill so much information to Lily. She says it's because she finds that idea amusing, but she's afraid you won't feel the same way. Personally I think it's weird.**

**She'd also like me to tell you to review. So there. Review.**


	20. No no no no no no no NO Potter!

**Gosh, I'm really tired right now. Let's hope my sleepiness doesn't affect my writing. That would suck.**

**Oh and sorry for the slowupdate, I totally forgot to update yesterday.**

**VannahWeasley (guest): :) What can I say? You left a great review, so I responded :). And anyways, thanks! Those last two reviews totally made my day! (Stewart says hi back)**

**evil duck of woe: Hahaha, love the name, definitely more interesting than laurel. And sorry for not telling you about myopinion of your story idea, I meant to tell you, but I forgot. Anyways, Percy Jackson and Harry Potter are seriously my two favorite book series's ever, and your story sounds really awesome! I think you should totally try writing it, and if you do, tell me!**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER**

_**Here's a shoutout to all my wonderful followers (as of this moment):**_

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**On with the story!**

* * *

Lily's POV:

"Hey Evans! Will you go out with me?"

"Potter, we've been over this already!"

"Well, yeah, but that was Friday. A lot can change in four days!"

"Yeah, but apparently that doesn't include you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means _no_."

"You want some time to rethink that?"

"No, I think I'm good."

* * *

"Evans, go out with me?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Goodbye!"

* * *

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LILY!"

"Oh, wow, thanks guys!"

"Quick, open your presents, you're going to love mine, I went around for ages looking for something—"

"Hey, who is this present from?"

"I dunno, it was there this morning."

"Open it, Lils!"

"Alright..."

*rip* "THIS IS A BIRTHDAY SONG, WHY DON'T YOU SING ALONG? THERE IS SO MUCH TO SEE, EVANS, GO OUT WI—"

"POTTER!"

"Yes, Lily, darli—OUCH!"

* * *

"POTTER! POTTER! POTTER!"

"Great game, mate!"

"Definitely! But I don't know why they're cheering you, but not me!

"POTTER! POTTER! POTTER!"

"I'm a brilliant Chaser, what can I say?"

"And I'm a brilliant Beater!"

"But I'm so brilliant, I'm the best player in Hogwarts! I should go on to play England, I'm so brilliant!"

"POTTER! POTTER! POTTER!"

"Oy, Evans!"

"Not in the mood, Potter."

"Go out with me!"

"You're the most conceited person in the planet!"

"Is that a yes?"

"In your dreams."

"HAHAHAHA PRONGS!"

"Shut up, Pads!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA BUT IT'S TRUE"

"What's true?"

"YOU TWO GO OUT IN YOUR DREAMS!"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP THE ENTIRE BLOODY GRYFFINDOR POPULATION CAN HEAR US!"

"POTTER! POTTER! POTTER!"

* * *

"Hey Lily,"

"Hey Remus."

"James wanted me to ask you if you'd go out with him."

"Really? Never would've guessed it."

"I told him you'd say no."

"Well tell it to him again."

"He's just going to ask again."

"And I'm going to say no again."

* * *

"Hey Eva—"

"Potter if you're going to ask me out, then just go now, because the answer's no."

"Oh well then see ya!"

* * *

"PRONGS I NEED HELP HERE!"

"PADFOOT YOU COULDN'T HAVE GIVEN ME FIVE MINUTES I'M HEXING SNIVELLUS HERE!"

"BUT MOONY'S TRYING TO KILL ME!"

"WHY?"

"BECAUSE I MADE A PASS AT MCDONALD!"

"YOU'RE MENTAL!"

"HELP ME OUT?"

"OH ALRIGH—Hi Evans, having a nice day?"

"I was before your shouting woke me up!"

"Go out with me?"

"Go drown yourself in the lake, Potter."

"...PADFOOT I'M WEARING HER DOWN!"

"SORRY TO BREAK IT TO YOU BUT YOU'RE NOT!"

* * *

"Evans—"

"No."

* * *

"Potter, what is the meaning of this?"

"Hi, Minnie, nice to see you too!"

"Mr. Potter, you are to address me as Professor!"

"Whatever you say, Minnie."

"That's a detention and five points from Gryffindor."

"Okay."

"Mr. Potter, kindly explain why the enchanted ceiling in the Great Wall is pouring rain all over the Slytherin table?"

"Err..."

"Five more points from Gryffindor."

"I can explai—Heya, Evans! Go out with me?"

"No!"

* * *

"Evans, here's the deal. You go out with me, or face the wrath of—"

"ARE YOU TRYING TO BLACKMAIL ME?"

"Err...maybe?"

"POTTER!"

* * *

"Hi Evans!"

"Potter, are you going to ask me out again?"

"But, Evans, it makes sense! You're a pretty girl, you should go out with someone who's dashingly handsome like—"

"But Otto Bagman's taken!"

"—me."

* * *

"All right, Evans?"

"Leave him alone. What's he done to you?"

"Well, it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean..."

"You think you're funny, but you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."

"I will if you go out with me, Evans! Go on... go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid."

* * *

"Dear Evans,

Having a charming holiday?

I would like for you to accompany me to The Leaky Cauldron sometime.

Please reply!

Love,

Potter"

"Potter,

Wow, that was almost close to you nearly being something close to almost a gentleman!

But I'm still not going out with you.

Lily Evans"

* * *

**Obviously me being tired DID affect my writing because this is all dialogue!**

**Anyways, I hope you recognized the second to last set, because that was copied from the fifth book, which means, you guessed it, it doesn't belong to me.**

**Hope you liked it! It was very different!**

**oh and THE MAGICAL MONKEY OF AWESOMENESS COMMANDS YOU TO REVIEW!**


	21. Stupid Severus and his Stupid Mouth

**Hey guys!**

**How are you?**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER**

**apoorvam: Haha, thanks.**

**devil-in-training: Thanks for the review! It's true, I do like honesty. It's just, the problem is that what you said was really more of what I was aiming for. I did want to breeze by the first few years, mostly so I could get them over with. I just felt the need to add them to show the interactions of the characters and get you to know the characters the way I see them, you know? And as for the tone, I'll admit, I wasn't going for "childish, per say", but more simplistic and basic. But don't worry, I will take your suggestions into account.**

**remember to review once you've read the story!**

* * *

Lily's POV:

It had taken all my effort to avoid Severus all summer long. He had tried to apologize several times, both late last year, and all summer.

But every time I got an owl, I threw the letter in the trash. Every time I spotted him outside, I walked in the opposite direction.

I had nothing to say to him.

And I didn't care for what he had to say to me.

My eyes grew slightly watery as I remembered.

_"Lily? Lily? You awake?"_

_I sat up on my bed an rubbed my eyes. "Yeah? Mary, what is it?"_

_Mary bit her lip. "Oh my god, you'd never guess! So Remus and I were in the common room earlier, chatting, when we heard a huge thumping, right? And it was coming from the Fat Lady's portrait! So me and Remus, we grab our wands and we go over to investigate, and, Lily, guess who it was? It was _Severus Snape_, of all people! Well, Remus and I both started yelling at him, because, of, you know, what happened after the DADA OWL, right? Then Snape whips out his wand and threatens Remus, and then I grab both of their wands and throw them! Then Snape tells me that he wants to see you, and that he's not going to leave, and he's gonna sleep outside the portrait hole if he has to, and—_

_I pounced out of bed. If Severus was going to stay out there and wait for me, then I was going to go out there._

_So I could give him a piece of my mind._

_I climbed out the portrait hole, and sure enough, there was Severus waiting for me._

_He was the first to speak._

_"I'm sorry."_

_"I'm not interested."_

_"I'm sorry!"_

_"Save your breath. I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here."_

_"I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just—"_

_"Slipped out? It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious little Death Eater friends," I paused here, waiting to see if he'd say something. But he didn't. "You see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"_

_I watched him open his mouth and close it again. I continued. "I can't pretend anymore. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."_

_"No—listen, I didn't mean—"_

_"—to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?" _

_I walked through the portrait hole again. Then I ran up back to my dorm, ignoring Mary, and cried._

_So much for best friends._

"LILY!" my mum shouted up at me.

"What is it?"

"One of your friends is here!"

I froze. Was it Severus?

"Which friend?"

"...Marlene?"

I grinned, and ran down the hallway, down the staircase, and into the living room.

"Lily!"

"Marlene!"

We hugged each other quickly, in greeting. My mum smiled at us, and went into the kitchen where my dad was.

"How've you been?" Marlene asked.

I shrugged. "My sister moved out last March, so that's good. But guess what? James Potter is _still_ asking me out."

Marlene gasped like a good friend. "Really?"

I grabbed her arm and pulled her up to my room. I rifled through my drawers and pulled out three letters, all from James.

Marlene read them, then glanced at me. "What'd you say to him?"

"No, of course."

I hesitated. I wanted to tell Marlene about Severus's letters, too, but I knew she wouldn't understand. Marlene was sweet, and I considered her my best friend, but I couldn't expect her to understand all the conflicting emotions that came with my relationship with Severus. If I knew her, she'd just point out that he was a Slytherin, and consider that to be the end of the discussion.

So I kept my mouth shut.

* * *

"Lily."

I spun around and saw a familiar face. "I don't have time for you."

Severus looked hurt. "Lily, please just listen to me for one—"

The Hogwarts Express's whistle blew. I didn't even bother speaking to Severus, instead, I just walked towards the train, not wanting to miss it.

The moment I got on, Severus grabbed my arm. "Lily—"

"Leave me alone!"

"Look, I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"

I turned to face him. "Why would _you_ want the forgiveness of a _Mudblood_ like me, huh, Sev? You've made it pretty clear about how you feel abo—"

"Please, Lily! I really, really like, you, alright?"

I stared at him. Then I spoke in a deadly whisper. "You like me? You _like_ me?"

The volume of my voice quickly rose. "First you call me a Mudblood, then you tell me that you like me?"

"That was an acci—"

I shoved him away. "Like I said, I don't have time for you."

I turned away and ran as fast as I could, towards the prefect's compartment. Right before I reached it, though, I bumped into someone accidentally.

"Ow!"

My next words came out in a rush. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry about that, I didn't see you, I was running so fast, and oh no I'm talking like my friend Mary, and—"

"Hey, it's alright," the person said, and I looked up at him, recognizing him as Bertram Aubrey, the prefect for Ravenclaw in my year. He was smiling down at me. "You're Lily Evans, right?"

I nodded silently. I couldn't help but notice how cute he was.

"Lily Evans. Hey, I was wondering, if, maybe, you'd like to go out on a date with me sometime?"

I looked at him.

* * *

**Another chapter done!**

**So, what'd you guys think?**

**Oh, and, by the way, I mostly added the Marlene scene to show more of their friendship. It's not very relevant to the plot. :/**

**So tell me what you thought! If I get more reviews, I might post quicker next time!**


	22. Everything You're Not

**Hey, how's everyone doing today?**

**NifflerGold12: Haha, you'll see what happens. And sorry to disappoint you, but I'm one of those people who believe in messing around with the charaters before they finally reach happiness. Cue maniacal laughter.**

**evil duck of woe: I feel incredibly stupid right now, but I'm not sure what you mean by fluff chapters. If you could explain, I'll tell you in the next update :)**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter! Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I'll let Stewart handle this one.**

**Stewart the Turtle: I'm too tired.**

**Me: It's just a disclaimer!**

**Stewart: Then why can't you just do it yourself?**

**Me: Because I'm too tired!**

**Stewart: *glares***

**Me: *glares***

**Stewart: *glares***

**Me: Alright, alright! I'll do it! I don't own anything in this story you can find in the Harry Potter books.**

* * *

Lily's POV:

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes, I'll go out with you."

Bertram's face broke into a grin. "You will? Yes! Meet me in the Great Hall on Wednesday, then?"

I nodded eagerly. "Alright!"

Then, the two of us walked into the prefect's compartment together.

* * *

"He _what_?!"

We were sitting in the Great Hall, waiting for the first years to enter and get Sorted, so we could finally eat. I took this time to ignore my grumbling stomach and tell my friends about Bertram.

I glanced over at Marlene, who looked rather shocked at this new development, and nodded. "He asked me out! Isn't it amazing?"

Marlene continued to stare at me. "Blimey! You didn't say yes, did you?"

I looked at her oddly. "Course I said yes, why wouldn't I?"

Mary looked at me. "Well, I mean, Potter's always asking you out on dates, and you always say no, so naturally I assumed—"

"Potter and Bert are two completely different people."

"True, but..." Marlene added, trailing off, not sure what to say.

Alice turned to me. "This is great, Lily! I'm so happy for you! Now we can triple date!"

Mary's eyes widened. She turned to me. "Lily," she frantically whispered. "You don't want to group date with Alice and Frank, _trust me_! They're sweet and all, but that's the priblem, see. They get so lovey dovey! Last time we went on a date, Frank's mouth was always on either the food or Alice's—"

I clapped my hand over Mary's mouth. "I get the point. Look, the first years are coming!" I squealed. "They're so cute!"

Marlene laughed at me. "Wow, Lily! Looks like Aubrey's asking you out suddenly turned you into a big softie!"

"Nonsense," I said, somewhat distractedly. "I've always loved kids..."

One by one, the students began to be Sorted. Then I noticed the Marauders walking towards us.

Remus sat next to Mary. "Hey," he said to us, before wrapping his arm around her as she kissed him on the cheek.

The boys immediately made faces and said, "Ugh"*, at the exact same time as us girls all sqealed, "Aww!"

Marlene turned back to me. "Lily, just _please_ promise me that you and Bert aren't going to be all cute and couple-y."

I giggled slightly. "Course not."

James, who had just wedged himself between me and Mary, glanced worriedly back and forth between me and Marlene. "What're you two talking about?"

Marlene answered immediately. "Bertram Aubrey and Lily are going out now!"

James stared at me. "This true?"

I didn't look at him when I answered. "Yeah, we are. He asked me out on the train earlier today."

His jaw dropped. "Bu—but—bu—b—but—"

I glanced at him, eyebrows raised. "Spit it out, Potter."

He struggled for the right words. "Why him and not me?"

I tried not to glance over at the Slytherin table. Truth was, I had still been really angry at Severus when Bertram asked me out, and a huge part of the reason I had said yes was to get back at him.

But I wasn't planning on saying that. My friends would just get upset at me for "using" Bertram. And none of them would truly understand why getting back at Severus was important to me. And if I wasn't telling my friends, I certainly wasn't telling James. After all, it wasn't any of his business.

Instead, I responded with my second best answer. "Hmm, let's see. Bert's a gentleman, and you're not. He's humble, you're not. He's nice, you're not. Need I go on?"

James looked at me for one more moment, clearly upset. Then he got up, and walked away. "Come on, Pads," he said to Sirius. "Let's go."

Sirius glanced at James with an incredulous look on his face. But then the incredulity melted into something else, something softer, but I couldn't tell what it was exactly, and then he wordlessly stood up and followed James. In a moment, they were back to where they'd been sitting before.

* * *

**So what'd everyone think?**

**I know, it was pretty short. Orginally I was intending on adding another scene to this chapter, but that scene turned out to be really long, so I made it into its own chapter, and added more dialogue and details to this scene.**

**1) I considered making James not say "Ugh", because I always considered him to be sort of a romantic when it came to Lily. But then I decided that he should be a romantic ONLY when it came to Lily, so he'd be thoroughly disgusted when Remus acted all sweet and romantic.**

**Remember to review!**


	23. Show Her The Other Side Of You, Duh

**Hey everybody! Hope y'all like this chapter! (did I just say y'all?)**

**evil duck of woe: To answer your question, then, I guess the fluff chapters are just going to pop up every now and then. It all just depends on how "vague" I am with the plot I wrote (I wrote an entire plot for the story before I started writing the story)**

* * *

James's POV:

"I just can't—"

**(Stewart The Turtle: Wait! You forgot to do the disclaimer!**

**Me: Oh, right.)**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable characters or elements found in the Harry Potter books.**

* * *

James's POV:

"I just can't believe Evans would go out with _Aubrey_, and not me!" I exclaimed, scrunching up my nose in disgust at the mention of Bertram Aubrey's name.

Me and my three friends were in the sixth year boys' dorms. Peter was unpacking all the chocolate he had brought, and was apparently upset because his Cooling Charm had messed up, resulting in a lot of melted chocolate. Remus was helping Peter clean up, and Sirius was sneaking tastes of the chocolate while avidly listening to me.

Meanwhile, I was pacing back and forth anxiously, complaining about the cruel injustice Lily had set upon me. I had to keep my voice down, though, because our other roommates (such as Frank Longbottom)* kept complaining.

"I mean, what does Aubrey have that I don't?"

Sirius shrugged. "He's in Ravenclaw, right? So he's smart, for one thing."

"_I'm_ smart!" I retorted.

Remus glanced up at me, ignoring the melted chocolate coating his hands. "That's true, mate, but I mean, you don't do a very good job of showing it. Here, Peter, what was that spell? Scorgify!"

I collapsed on my bed. "What d'you mean I'm not good at showing it?"

Remus finally finished cleaning up the mess, and the three of them sat on my bed. Remus spoke first. "Look, Prongs, you're one of the smartest people I know, I'll admit that. But you're always acting so bloody stupid all the time—"

I glared at him. "I don't act stupid! I'm just very spirited, that's all!"

Remus shook his head gently, as if he knew arguing with me was a useless effort. "I'm going to sleep," he remarked, then climbed into his bed.

"Wait, Moony!" I shouted, earning an angry shout from another student who was trying to sleep. I ignored him, though, and pulled the cover off Remus's bed. "Come, on, Moony, you've talked to Evans, you know what she likes! How can I get her to go ot with me?"

He groaned up at me, and grabbed the blanket again. Then he sat up. "Look. You do have your good points, mate. The problem is that whenever you try to show them off to Lily, you keep showing off all the _wrong_ things. Lily isn't very interested in Quidditch, and, honestly, you should've learned by now that hexing students isn't going to impress her, it's just going to make you look worse in her eyes."

"But—"

"No buts. Lily sees you as this huge arrogant bully, and that's the last thing she needs in her life right now. If you really want to get her to go out with you, you have to start cleaning up your act."

Sirius stood up suddenly and turned to Remus. "Woah, Moony, what do you mean, _clean up his act_?"

"I mean, Prongs has to show Lily there's more to him than pranking and Quid—"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sirius shouted, effectively waking up every other student in the room. "Prongs, don't listen to Moony, he's gone mental! Forget about Evans, she's not worth it!"

"Of course she's worth it!"

"All she's ever done to you is break your heart every time you try to impress her! Forget about her, any other girl in this school will have you!"

"But I don't _want_ any other girl in this school!"

"Then go to Beauxbatons, they'll have yo—"

"Padfoot, listen to me! I don't want any other girl, period! I want Lily!" I froze silently. Did I just call her by her first name?

"How would you know? You haven't even looked at another girl! Maybe your bloody future wife is amongst them, but you wouldn't know, you're too busy fawning over a lost cause!"

"Don't call her a lost cause!"

"But that's what she is! She's had all this time to go out with you, but she hasn't even considered it! And if she takes this long to figure out what a great guy you are, then you deserve better!"

I glared at him. He glared right back at me. Neither of us dropped our glare, nor broke the silence.

Finally Peter spoke up. "I think Prongs needs to just follow his heart."

The three of us stared at Peter. "Blimey, Wormtail, when did you become such a girl?" I asked him, surprised.

"Eh, 'round the same time you did," he replied, cracking a small impish grin. Then we all laughed.

Sirius turned back to me. When he spoke, his tone was considerably softer. "Look, I'm sorry, mate. I'm just trying to look out for you, that's all."

I nodded, and we both hugged—in a manly, tough, bro-to-bro kind of way, not at all like two emotional girls hugging!

But as I went to sleep, I kept thinking about my friends' words, as they constantly rang through my ears.

_He's smart...clean up your act...show Lily there's more to you than pranking and Quidditch...follow your heart._

* * *

**So what do you guys think? I had fun writing this chapter. I had a little trouble with the beginning, but once I got going, I got going!**

**So tell me what you thought of this chapter!**

**1) I read several arguments on the Hogwarts population and I think I can safely say that there are typically about 700 students at Hogwarts every year, dividing into about 12-13 students per dorm (700 students / 7 years = 100 students per year. 100 students / 2 genders = 50 boys per year. 50 boys / 4 houses = 12-13.)**

**Basically this means that the Marauders were definitely NOT the only male Gryffindors in their year.**

**If you care about this argument, I'll continue it below. Otherwise, just ignore it, and review!**

**The number 700 came from a section where JK Rowling described the carriages (the ones the thestrals pulled) as about 100 or so, and each carriage basically held about 6 students. This makes for around 600 students, not including first years. We can assume, however, that the number of first years is more or less the same as the other years, which would be 100 (600 students / 6 years = 100 students per year). 600+100=700. So yeah, 700 students.**

**The reason Harry's year was so small, we can assume, was because of the war. With all the danger and deaths, we can assume that most Wizarding couples were either too scared to have children around this time, or died before they had the chance. Which means that the generation of children born during the Wizarding War (which ends AFTER Harry's birth) would have a smaller population than most others.**

**All of this information is controversial, and you can find lots of arguments on this topic if you know where to look. I'm just sticking with this theory because it makes the most sense to me.**


	24. Earwax flavor? I think I'll pass

**Hey guys! How are you?**

**GREAT NEWS FOR ME: My complete set of hardcover Harry Potter books finally arrived in the mail today! It took a heck of a lot of saving, but now I don't have to reference my ebooks anymore, I can read it out of the actual books! YAY!**

**The story will now be taking a noticeable change. I hope.**

**YD-WB-Paramore: To answer your question, James was a Chaser, Harry was the Seeker. I know in the first movie, there was a trophy that said James was a Seeker, but the movie messed up. You can see the proof James is a chaser at www dot tinyurl dot com slash james dash chaser. It's an interview on JK Rowling, and Jo says he's a Chaser near-ish the bottom of the page.**

**Disclaimer: I LIKE TRES LECHES!**

**Stewart: What does cake have to do with the disclaimer?**

**Me: It doesn't!**

**Stewart: Then wha—why—oh, never mind. Neither I nor Tamara own Harry Potter.**

**CONTEST: Quick! I need a name for an OC! I can come up with one myself, but it'll be more fun to hold a contest. Anyways, give me a name for a girl (she'll be in Gryffindor). Remember, OC. The best name will be featured in the story! (you'll get credit) You can send in two names total. You have until Chapter 28, that's when she makes her first appearance.**

* * *

Lily's POV:

"Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!" James, Sirius, and Remus chanted, as Peter stared nervously at the grey Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean.

I laughed, and Marlene joined in with the boys' chanting, until finally Peter shut his eyes tight, and swallowed the bean. Immediately he started hacking, and groaned. "Dirty sock, ugh!"

The six of us roared with laughter.

Hanging out with the Marauders had now become a regular thing amongst my friends and I. Ever since Remus and Mary officially became boyfriend and girlfriend, the two seemed set on spending as much time with each other as possible. And, seeing as they also wanted to spend time with their friends, the result was several afternoons and meals spent with Marlene, Mary, Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James, as well as the occasional Alice and Frank.

The first week or so of hanging out with the Marauders was absolutely torture. But after a lot of tension and hostility between us, Mary finally snapped at me and Marlene to warm up to the Marauders.

An angry Mary was a surprisingly frightening Mary.

So, I opened up to them, and to my surprise, I found that they were actually loads of fun. Granted, I still had to chastise them every 17 seconds, but the remaining 16 seconds tended to be laughter filled and enjoyable.

"Hey, Lily, try this one!" Mary shouted to me, holding out a goldish jellybean.

I looked down at it suspiciously. "That looks like that earwax one I made you eat in third year."

James looked at me in surprise. "You forced someone to eat a bad jellybean?"

I glared at him, only half-angry. "Potter, it was candy, and anyways, I thought it was caramel!"

"Call me James, not Potter!"

I rolled my eyes at him and turned to Mary. "Are you trying to get revenge on me for that jellybean, Mary? Cuz that was three years ago!"

Mary innocently batted her eyelashes at me. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Mary."

"Lily."

"Mary."

"Marlene."

"Oh, not this _again_!" Marlene exclaimed, and we all laughed.

I turned back to Mary, an evil grin forming on my face. "Fine, I'll eat it. But if it turns out to be earwax...just remember, I got you and Remus together, and I can split you up just as easily."

James, Sirius, and Peter went, "Oooooooohhhhh, better watch out," in unison.

"Lily Evans, threatening her friend. Ooh, the tension level is high," James added, grinning broadly at me, as if daring me to yell at him.

I just scoffed at him, and popped the candy into my mouth. I chewed it momentarily, then grinned in triumph. "Toffee!"

Everyone in the room started applauding, and a giggle escaped my lips.

Suddenly, an owl flew into the room and dropped a piece of paper onto my lap.

"That's Bert's owl," I noticed, and sure enough, it was a note.

_Meet me outside your common room, I'd like to go on a walk with you._

_-Bertram_

I reread the note, then stood up quickly. "I've got to go now, Bert's waiting for me. See you!"

I dashed out the portrait hole to find Bertram waiting for me.

* * *

That night, I had trouble sleeping. I was too busy waging an internal war in my head.

About James Potter.

_You have to admit it, James isn't as bad as you thought he was._

_Of course he is! And don't call him James! Call him Potter!_

_Don't tell me what to do!_

_Come on, this is Potter we're talking about! He plays pranks all the time!_

_Not as much as he used to._

_He turned Severus into a hamster!_

_That was third year!_

_He hexed him last year, too!_

_And when Severus called you a Mudblood, who stood up for you?_

_That was only because he hated Severus!_

_Don't be daft, Lily!_

_I'm just saying the truth! He's an arrogant toerag with no regard for consequences or others' wellbeing!_

_He's different now! He's changed!_

_It's probably just some act! I bet it's just a scheme to make me think he's changed so I'll go out with him!_

_James Potter is not that good an actor! He's being honest!_

_I thought you were on my side?_

_I am on your side! I'm you! Just give him a shot!_

_James Potter is not worth a shot!_

_Everybody's worth a shot!_

_Even Death Eaters?_

_Okay, you got me there. But please, give James a shot. He didn't pull anything earlier, did he?_

_He was obnoxious!_

_He was playing around with his friends, much like you and your friends!_

_I am not his friend!_

_Only because you're too stubborn to give him a chance!_

_I am not stubborn!_

_Of course you're stubborn! You've been having a bloody argument with yourself for ten minutes now! Just give him a chance!_

_I don't know..._

_Just one more chance._

_I gave him a chance already, remember? And he blew it, and didn't even apologize!_

_He was eleven._

_He had his chance!_

_He was eleven. He's more mature now._

_But still..._

_The past is past. Just give him a shot. And if he screws it up, you can go right back to hating him!_

_Oh...fine. One more chance._

* * *

**I had some trouble with this chapter because it's OBVIOUSLY a filler, and I feel super guilty writing fillers, because one of the first lessons of writing is that every scene HAS to serve a purpose, and fillers pret much go against that.**

**But it needed to be written. I needed to take some time to show Lily's transition into becoming good friends with James, because I figured that if I just jumped into it, the story wouldn't flow right, you know? Lily didn't suddenly pop into friendship with James, she eased into it, so I had to ease you guys into it, and that's why I wrote this chapter.**

**On the other hand, I had fun. The way the friends interacted in that first scene was exactly the same way most of the people I know interact with each other.**


	25. Boyfriends, boys, and those two

**Hiya!**

**How are you?**

**The K1D: Thanks so much for your review! It made me feel very good! :D**

**VannahWeasley: Thanks for the review! I like writing cute scenes, haha :)**

**evil duck of woe: For the contest, I need last names too. Sorry, .i should've specified that in the last chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I AM NOT JK ROWLING. I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. THERE, I SAID IT.**

**On with the story! Remember to review!**

* * *

Lily's POV:

"Don't freak out...but last night, I..." Marlene trailed off.

A few weeks had passed since I had decided to officially give James Potter a chance. Those weeks were filled with Marauders, and I mean filled. Us girls hadn't had any girl time to ourselves in a while. And apparently the boys hadn't had enough "Marauder time", so while the boys were off doing what they did best (pranking), we girls decided to just hang out in our dorms and talk.

"What is it?" Alice asked Marlene. "Tell us!"

Marlene looked reluctant. "Lily, why don't you tell us about you and Be—"

"Don't try to change the subject," I said, frowning. "You were about to say something. What was it?"

Marlene looked nervously between me, Alice, and Mary. Finally she spoke. "Last night...I might've...I mean...Sirius and I...well, we sort of...hooked up."

We stared at her for a moment, before Mary broke the silence. "Oh my gosh does that mean you two are together or what oh my goodness oh my goodness I can't believe it you and Sirius and Marlene here I was thinking you were the good girl well no I'd suppose the good girl out of us four would be Lily but oh my goodness so are you two a couple now oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!"

Me and Alice laughed. When our laughter died down, Marlene spoke. "Sheesh, Mary, you sure can talk." Mary blushed. "Anyways, I don't know what me and Sirius are then...d'you think I should talk to him about it?"

Alice nodded. "Yeah, talk to him. Oh, this is great, imagine, if you two start dating, then all of us will have boyfriends? We can go on a huge group date toge—"

"NO!" Mary and I shouted together. Then the four of us laughed.

Mary turned to me. "Hey, Lils, now I'm curious. Have you and Bertram ever..." she trailed off suggestively.

I shrugged, looking down. "Not really. The most we've done is some mild snogging, and that was only once."

I glanced up hesitantly, to find all three girls gaping at me like fish.

"What?" When they didn't reply, I looked down and continued. "I dunno, we've just been taking it slow, y'know? I just don't want to rush into anythi—"

"Merlin, Lily, you've been with the bloke for two months now and you've only snogged _once_?" Alice said, surprised.

I glared at her. "There's nothing wrong with that, Alice! Just because I don't want to—"

"Okay, let's calm down here, Lils," Mary said in a gentle, un-Mary-like tone, reaching forward and pushing me down. Honestly, I hadn't even realized I was starting to stand up. "You're right, there's nothing wrong with taking it slow. After all, you've only been together a couple months, that hasn't been a whole lot of time."

I nodded, not daring to speak any more.

The truth, though, was a bit bigger than it seemed.

Bertram _had_ made a few passes at me, a few comments, and so on. I had just ignored them, pretending as if I hadn't noticed his advances.

But it was more than me wanting to wait. There was more to the story than me not feeling ready yet.

There was another factor in this game. Something...something I didn't want to admit to myself. A feeling inside me that was slowly starting to grow, but one that I kept on denying because of the fact that I had a boyfriend...

"Hullo, ladies," a voice came from behind me. A voice I recognized. A voice I was too scared to turn around for.

"Bloody hell, James! And Sirius! How on earth did you two get in here?" Alice asked, looking at the two people behind me with a befuddled expression. "Isn't there an enchantment on the staircase to prevent boys from getting up here?"

I heard James's voice reply from behind me, and from his tone I could tell he was smirking. "What can I say? Every rule has its loophole."

"Well, you're not supposed to be here," Marlene said firmly, and I looked at her, and realized that I wasn't the only one whose eyes were avoiding the two boys.

Sirius spoke up next. "Hullo, Marlene, nice seeing you again."

I watched Marlene as she glanced up at Sirius. Some expression — I couldn't tell what — flickered in her eyes. I watched her shoot a slightly nervous look at Alice, who nudged her in return. Marlene looked down, took a deep breath, plucking up her courage, and stood up. "I need to talk to you."

I watched her as she walked over to Sirius. I even turned around so as to geta better look. I continued to watch and she grabbed Sirius's wrist and pulled him out the door, Sirius looking slightly nervous. I was about to turn back to my friends when—

My eyes met James's.

He was watching me intently. I looked into his eyes. The mischievous glint that I was so used to seemed to be missing. Instead, I saw something else. A sort of...fondness, almost. It suited him.

The tips of my lips curved upwards ever so slightly into a faint smile.

Oh, bloody hell.

* * *

**I had to double-check the content ratings to make sure this chapter didn't make me have to change the rating. Does "hooked up" count as "minor suggestive adult themes" or "non-explicit suggestive adult themes"? Let's go with the first option, because I really don't want to have to change its rating. But if it turns out that "hooked up" is too suggestive, which I really don't think it is, I'll change the wording.**

**So tell me what you thought! Hope you enjoyed it! :D REVIEW**

**And by the way, we'll be meeting a new friend in the Authors Note next chapter. Make a guess who it is!**


	26. Everyone's Got a Date But Me

**K, so I'm a little pissed off right now because I totally wrote this chapter and it was brilliant, but I lost it and now I have to rewrite it. But oh well, that's life for you.**

**Thanks for all your reviews! I'd respond to each and every one of you, but I don't have the time. But please know that I love you!**

**Disclaimer-**

**Me: STEWART!**

**Tortoise: Hi there!**

**Me: Uhh...who are you?**

**Tortoise: I'm Phyllis, Stewart's cousin. Stewart called in sick, so he asked me to fill in and help you out.**

**Me: Aww, that's so nice of both of you. Hey, while you're here, would you mind doing the disclaimer for me?**

**Phyllis: What's a disclaimer?**

**Me: Well, it's basically a little note you write that says you don't own the story you're writing a fanfiction for. In this case, it's Harry Potter.**

**Phyllis: But that's ridiculous! It's obvious you don't own Harry Potter, or you wouldn't be publishing this story on Fanfiction!**

**Me: Yeah, but that's the rule. If I don't add a disclaimer, my story can be taken down.**

**Phyllis: That's stupid!**

**Me: I KNOW RIGHT? But that's the rule and I have to follow it.**

**Phyllis: Yikes.**

**Me: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Stewart: Hey everybody! Guess who made a speedy recovery?**

**Phyllis: Well then, I guess my work here is done. Bye Stewart, bye Tamara, and thanks for telling me what a disclaimer is!**

* * *

James's POV:

"May I have your attention, students?" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out into the Great Hall. All of the students looked up curiously. It wasn't often that professors made speeches during mealtimes, unless they were going to punish students in front of the whole school. And I hadn't done anything bad in forever, so that couldn't possibly be it...

"I would like to announce some great news. For the first time in many years, Hogwarts will be bringing back an age-old tradition: a Winter Ball."

My jaw dropped, despite it being filled with mashed potstoes. "Age old tradition? Winter Ball?" I wondered. I turned to Peter, who was stuffing his mouth with pork. "What's she on about?"

Peter shrugged. "Not sure. Ask Moony."

So I promptly turned towards Remus. "What's she talking about?"

Remus sighed as if he was exasperated that he had to explain yet another thing to us. "Back when Hogwarts still participated in the Triwizard Tournament, there would be an annual Yule Ball. I suppose they're just trying to bring the ball back, but without the death-defying events."

I stared at the teachers' table in wonder.

* * *

Later that evening, Peter and I were pacing anxiously across the room.

"Mate, just ask someone out!"

I spun to face him. "That's easy for you to say! You've already got a girlfriend, Marlene would be mad to say no when you ask her. You too, Moony."

Peter groaned. "I don't have a girlfriend, either!"

I kept thinking hurriedly. "Maybe I can ask Lily out, she doesn't seem to hate me as much as she used to."

Remus sighed. "Prongs, you're forgetting something."

"I am?"

"Lily already has a boyfriend."

I groaned. "Aubrey. If I hadn't made that bloody oath to clean up my act I'd hex that git into oblivion."

"And I suppose Lily would just jump into your arms afterwards?"

"She should! I don't like that Aubrey. There's something off about him..."

"You're only saying that because he's dating the girl of your dreams."

I sighed in defeat, then fell back onto my bed. I laid there pitifully until an idea hit me. I sat up straight. "What if I ask another girl to the dance? Someone that Lily will get jealous over. Yeah, she can get jealous, and she'll dump that pathetic prat and realize she loves me!"

Sirius high-fived me for my brilliant plan, and Remus stared at me bewildered. "What on _earth_ makes you think that's a good idea?"

But I didn't listen. I _loved_ my plan.

But who to ask?

* * *

Lily's POV:

I was far more excited for the Winter Ball than I had been for the Spring Dance in fourth year. And so were Marlene, Mary, and Alice.

This was the first time all four of us had boyfriends.

Mary was very excited. She couldn't stop talking to us about her and Remus's plans. But somewhere in the middle of Mary's pauses for breaths, Marlene managed to explain how nervous she was. After all, she was going with Sirius Black, Gryffindor Stud. But I managed to reassure her, convince her that Sirius was going to be a good boy.

Of course, I wasn't completely sure of that. But I wasn't about to tell her that.

I didn't see too much of Alice, but then again, I didn't see too much of Alice these days, she was always spending so much time with Frank. But I was practically a sponser of their relationship, so I didn't mind her absenses so much as long as she was happy, which she definitely was.

I myself was excited, because I could go with a boyfriend instead of a friend this time.

But on the other hand, I was dreading the Ball with all my might.

As much as I tried to deny it, I knew the truth in my heart. I didn't care about Bertram as much as I had on our first few dates. We just didn't have the chemistry, the connection.

At first, I had thought there was something wrong with me. Was I incapable of love or something?

But now that I knew what was really going on, I knew there was _definitely_ something wrong with me.

I was falling for James Bloody Potter. (I really needed to ask him his middle name)

* * *

**I was going to make it longer, I admit, but the way it is right now works and it reaches 1000 words so I'm going to stick with what I have. Don't worry, the juicy scene is going to come.**

**Think of this chapter as a set up.**

**Cuz you know what? Lily may have just realized her feelings for a certain James, but that doesn't mean they're about to go out right away. Oh, no. I'm going to have _fun_ with this.**

**So yeah! If you wanna read the drama in the next few chapters, REVIEW OR I WON'T POST IT! (okay thats a lie we all know i'll post it anyways. review nonetheless?)**


	27. Well, That Went Undeniably Wrong

**Hey peoplessss!**

**ARE.**

**YOU.**

**READY.**

**FOR.**

**THIS.**

**CHAPTER.**

**VannahWeasley: Thanks, I just like tossing school dances into stories, they pretty much force people to find dates and move the plot forward.**

**Lovewriting12: Thanks for the review! :DDD**

**The Forgotten Stark: oops. just fixed it, lol**

**Awesomeme: I read your review on Chapter 2 and I decided I'm too lazy to come up with a new last name for Alice so I'm going to use the lame excuse that Alice can be to the Selwyns what Sirius is to the Blacks.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Although, some night, I lie awake wishing that I did.**

* * *

Lily's POV:

I sighed.

The Winter Ball was in two days.

What was I going to do?

I didn't have feelings for Bertram anymore.

I doubted that I ever did.

And now I fancied the one person I had always considered my "sworn enemy".

What was I going to do?

Should I break up with Bert?

Should I tell James how I felt?

Wouldn't that be the right thing to do?

Should I even go to the Ball with Bert?

Would that be misleading him?

I was torn beyond belief.

I sighed. Maybe I should just wait for the Ball to be over, and _then_ break up with Bert.

After all, I'd already paid for the dress that matched Bert's tie. And it was wrong to let my parents' money go to waste.

I groaned. I felt like I was just making excuses.

I needed to talk to Bert. Who knows, maybe I could make things work with him.

I had to.

I hopped out of the common room and headed for Ravenclaw.

I could hear the echoing of my footsteps as I ran down the corridor.

What was I going to say to him? I still wasn't sure. I just knew that I had to see him _right now_.

Suddenly, I slipped on the tile, which was uncharacteristically wet. I groaned. It was probably some wannabe Marauders trying to pull a prank.

Not funny.

"Mmmmm, yes!" I heard a girl moan from a nearby classroom.

I mentally groaned in exasperation. More couples snogging in the classrooms. Hooray.

I got to my feet, and walked to the classroom. This was _definitely_ my least favorite part of being a prefect.

I opened the door and saw—

Bertram.

His lips were smashing and moving against some girl's mouth, his hands slowly moving their way up behind her shirt.

I stared in shock and horror for only a moment, before I came to my senses.

I cleared my throat. The girl looked at me, a blush creeping onto her cheeks, embarrassed at getting caught.

Bertram meanwhile, look frightened. "Lily I can ex—"

"Save it," I said, and I surprised myself when my voice turned cold. "Detention. Both of you. Get out of here."

The girl quickly ran out of the room, but Bertram stayed. "Lily—"

"I don't want to hear it."

"Lily!"

"We're through."

"You're bloody right we are!"

"Wait...what?"

"Well what did you expect? You can't lead a bloke on like the way you do, and not follow up on it! We had one snogging session! One! And you pulled away after a minute! I mean, I haven't gotten any real action, and we've been together for four months and nothing! You're such a bloody tease!"

I stared at him for a moment, frozen, processing what he had said.

So he didn't care about me either.

I was torn between major offense at his words, and relief that now I didn't have to stress over our relationship.

I unfroze, and took a deep breath. "Have _fun_ at the dance then. That girl looked very pretty."

And I walked away.

* * *

I walked through the portrait hole, confused by my own emotions.

I was hurt, yes, hurt that he betrayed me so easily, hurt that he thought I was a tease...but that was it. I felt no other emotion. No remorse, no regret.

If anything I felt...better. I mean, now I was free...

James.

I had to see him.

I sat down in the Common Room. If I knew James, he'd come in here any moment.

So I sat.

And I waited.

And I waited some more.

And I pulled out my books.

And I studied.

And then he and Sirius walked in.

"Hullo, Evans!" Sirius said cheerfully, sitting on the left of me.

"Hey, Lily!" James added, squeezing in to my right.

"Ow—guys—ow—this is a chair, not a sofa—you're suffocating me—ow!"

I immediately stood up. "You two have no sense of space, do you?"

James shrugged. "What can I say?"

I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh. Then I remembered why I was here.

"Hey...James," I spoke softly. "Can I ask you something?"

Sirius immediately thrust his arm in front of James, as if holding him back. James cried, "Ow, you just elbowed me in th—"

"Anything you want to say to Prongs, you can say to me."

I stared at Sirius for a moment, before giving in. I sighed. "Fine. Look, James, I was just wondering if we could go to the Winter Ball together."

_Huh_, I thought to myself. _That was easy. I don't know why boys freak out so much when they're asking us girls out._

James and Sirius stood at me, their jaws dropped. Suddenly I felt awkward. "Hello?"

James swallowed, his Adam's Apple bobbing. "I...err...can't. I got a girlfriend now."

"Oh." I said. Admittedly, I was shocked. All this chasing he had done, and now I hear that he asked _someone else_?

Now, _that_ hurt me.

"Wait, Evans," Sirius said, eying me. "Weren't you going with Aubrey?"

I felt a lump in my throat. Maybe it was just a side effect of being rejected twice. But instead, I walked forward and started gathering up my books. "Nah, we broke up."

I finished packing my things and headed up to my dorm, not daring to look at either of the boys.

I felt like such an idiot.

* * *

James's POV:

Neither me nor Sirius spoke for a while. Then, finally, I said the one thing that I knew was on both of our minds.

"Did Lily Evans just...ask me out?"

"Yup."

"But I said no."

"Yup, pretty much."

"Why did I say no?"

"You had a date already."

I cursed silently. "Moony was right, wasn't he?"

"He usually is."

I cursed again. "I'm such a bloody idiot."

* * *

**NOTE: I know, I know, James should have a date, not a girlfriend. But the fact that she'shis girlfriend not a date is important, besides, I can easily imagine James walking up to a girl and saying, "Hey, you wanna be my girlfriend?", especially if he's determined on getting a certain redhead jealous.**

**Phyllis: WHY DID YOU WRITE THIS CHAPTER TAMARA WHY**

**Me: BECAUSE IT WAS THE NEXT SCENE IN MY PLOT PHYLLIS THAT'S WHY**

**Phyllis: WELL CHANGE YOUR PLOT IT'S A STUPID PLOT**

**Me: PHYLLIS!**

**Stewart: I like honey!**

**Phyllis and me: SHUT UP STEWART!**

**So, now we've heard Phyllis's opinion on this chapter, what's yours? Make my day, please, and review! Next chapter's gonna be the dance, and I _promise_, you'll get Jily action and loads of good stuff!**

**So review, and tune in next time for...**

**Learning To Love Him! (imagine that's said with an echo)**


	28. You're Not a Bullying Toerag Anymore

**HOLY COW I JUST CHECKED MY REVIEW NUMBER AND IT WAS 109 WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN OMG I LOVE YOU ALL I WANNA DO SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR YOU GUYS BUT I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING IF YOU CAN THINK OF SOMETHING, SUGGEST IT TO ME!**

**Hey, have you ever heard the song "Swing, Swing" by the All-American Rejects? I'm listening to it right now and I ****_love_**** it!**

**Sorry, off topic. Music distracts me as much as books do.**

**Anyways, here is the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you can find in the seven Harry Potter books.**

**(OMG now Good Life by OneRepublic is playing. I love internet radio! You gotta go to slacker dot com right now! Listen to music while you read!)**

**Enjoy!**

**(oh and congrats on YD-WB-Paramore for coming up with the winning name!)**

* * *

Lily's POV:

The Winter Ball was a really beautiful event. There were streamers and trees and baubles and lights and mistletoe and poinsettias and soft holiday-themed music.

I sighed. I wished I could enjoy the party like my other friends.

I recalled last night. I was still left without a date, and apparently Peter had the same dilemma, for I had noticed him fretting and pacing the common room.

I had watched him walk towards Sirius. "Padfoot, what am I going to do? I don't have a date to the Ball!"

A thought struck me, and I quickly spoke up. "I don't have a date either, Peter."

He turn to me, with an almost bewildered look on his face, as I'd he hadn't even realized I was in the room, let alone watching him. He shot a nervous glance at James, who's nose was literally buried in a book, and he turned to me. "Then...err...do you suppose we should go together then?"

I shrugged nonchalantly, as if I wasn't mentally screaming with joy and relief that I finally had a date. "Alright then."

I could've sworn James shoved the book even further into his face, if that was even possible.

I sighed again. Here I was now. Sitting on the steps right outside the Great Hall. Peter had gone off with Sirius to put some prank, which meant I was left dateless.

I watched the dance from a distance. Alice was dancing with Frank, of course, they had been dancing together all night. Alice looked so happy, and so in love.

Mary was also dancing, with Remus, of course. He was holding her closely and, taking an even closer look, I could've sworn he was going through all the motions I had taught him two years ago. I chuckled slightly.

Sirius, of course, was off scheming with Peter, so Marlene couldn't dance with him. However, she seemed very content dancing with multiple other boys. I shook my head, smiling slightly. Marlene and Sirius had more in common than you'd think.

I looked up again, gently, and noticed one other familar face on the dance floor. James. I looked at the girl in his arms and desperately tried not to get jealous. The girl was Chastidy Duke, a fifth year. She was also Keeper on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

I hate Quidditch. Stupid bloody Quidditch with its stupid bloody blonde Keepers.

I glanced at the clock. There was still a couple hours left before the stupid dance ended.

This was supposed to be such a fun night, a chance for me and my friends to hang out and have fun and spend time with our boyfriends.

It wasn't exactly turning out like that.

But, my friends were having fun, and if my friends were happy, I should be happy too. I stood up, feeling that unpleasant ache that comes with standing up after sitting for a while on the ground. Then I made my way over to the snack table, feeling that some punch wouldn't be uncalled for.

I stood at the snack table and pored over the wide variety of snacks and drinks that were available. I was contemplating my choices when a cute Huflepuff asked me to dance and I said yes.

And so I found myself on the dance floor.

It was actually more fun than I thought it would've been. I focused heavily on the music, which was loud and exciting, and the dancing proved to be plenty of fun. I also found myself switching dance partners a lot. I would be dancing with some people at one point and then another guy for the next song. The songs heightened my excitement and the next hour or so melted into a rush.

I whirled through the Great Hall. I even caught the eyes of my friends, who seemed to be having as much fun as me.

_This_ was how the dance was supposed to go.

Suddenly, I slipped on some spilled punch and accidentally knocked myself into the snack table. I groaned, and my mood soured slightly as Pepper Imps and buterbeer spilled all over me.

"Woah, Evans, someone sure goes wild for their snacks," a familiar voice said, and I looked up to find the smirking face of James Potter gazing down at me, arm outstretched. I reached forward to grab his hand, but he yanked it away at the last second, and I glared at him. He chuckled for a moment, then offered his hand again.

I reluctantly took it, muttering, "Not funny, mister."

"What's not funny, the joke, or me pulling my arm away?"

"Both."

He laughed, and I straightened myself up.

"Here, lemme help you. What was the spell for cleaning someone up?"

"You mean _tergio_?"

"Right. Tergio Lily!" My dress suddenly turned clean and mess-free.

I laughed gently. "Thanks."

"Anything for you," he replied, grinning at me, and I felt myself blush. Suddenly, he extended his hand again. "Care to dance?"

I looked at him and tried not to let my internal freaking out reach my external.

He must have mistaken my hesitation for reluctance, because he said "Don't worry, I won't pull my hand away this time."

I nodded silently and took his hand. Within five seconds, the loud energetic music was replaced with a slow song. I gave James a funny look. "Did you pay the band to play a slow song right now?"

He coughed into his hand and refused to look at me when he responded. "Of course not, why on earth would I do that?"

I shook my head in amusement. "Only you, James."

He looked up at me. "You called me James!"

I laughed, and we kept dancing.

The music was soft and sweet, and James's hand felt warm in mine. I tried to calm down the butterflies in my stomach, which were seriously driving me wild.

I looked up at James, who was watching me intently. My eyes flickered away immediately. They caught on to a group of students, who were all goggling at me.

I chuckled slightly at that.

"What is it?" James asked me, eyebrows furrowed slightly, glasses slipping ever so slightly down his nose, making him look unbelievably cute.

_Stop it, Lily_, I told myself. _Get over yourself, you're being ridiculous._

I chuckled again. I glanced up at him. "Nothing, it's just that..." I thought, trying to choose the right words. "I'm dancing with James Potter. The me a year ago never would've dared to believe I would stoop that low."

He looked at me, an awkward half-smile forming on my face. "What, was I that horrible?"

"Worse."

He laughed, and I joined in. His laughter was really cute and_—Shut up, Lily!_

Suddenly his laughter stopped and I glanced up at him, slightly conmfused.

"I'm not still that bad, am I?"

I shot him are assuring smile. "No, you're much better actually. I mean, you yanked your hand away from me when I was covered in butterbeer, which is not_—_"

"I helped you up right after!"

"_—_a cool thing to do, but overall, you're not the huge jerk I remember you being."

He tilted his head slightly. "So I'm not a bullying toerag anymore?"

"Nope."

"Not less worthy than the Giant Squid?"

"Nope."

"Not overly arrogant and full of hot air?"

"Well, actually, you _are_ still arrogant."

I could tell James was trying not to look offended, and I giggled at that expression he wore on his face.

"What?" he asked, a smile starting to form on his face once again.

I shook my head. "Nothing, you're just really—"

He gazed at me, with a slight smirk forming on his face as if he knew that the next word in that sentence—the word I had almost let slip out of my mouth—was _cute_.

Then, before I knew what was happening, he was moving closer, his arms slowly wrapping firmly around my waist and pulling me in. His head was slowly leaning in, and he hesitated for a moment, watching me carefully, before resting his hand on my cheek and pulling my face toward his. My eyes fluttered closed, butterflies dancing through my stomach and my heart racing—

"Prongs!" Peter's voice shouted and my eyes suddenly flashed open just to watch Peter yank James away from me. I watched James glare at Peter, irritation storming through his eyes. For a second, I was afraid James was going to murder poor Peter.

"Prongs! You gotta help us! Pads and I were setting up Operation Flaming Bunnies, but then the..."

James shot a hopeless glance at me, and I stared straight back at him.

I got a perfect view of him slowly turning to Peter and walking away, leaving me alone on the dance floor.

* * *

**The cheesiness is real, right? Lol. But then again, what's a story without some cliches?**

**Wow, is it just me or did my writing sort of shift to what it was two years ago? It was more descriptive than usual but also more cheesy (yes, my writing over time grew to be _less_ descriptive...deal with it.**

**Anyways, remember: Review! If you want to see more, review, because your reviews totally affect my will to write! :)**

**Love ya all!**


	29. The Almighty Power of…Butterbeer?

**Hola, todo el mundo! Cómo está todo el día de hoy? (I wish I could say that was my Mexican roots coming out in me, but that would be a lie. I Google Translated it. I can also say the exact same thing in German. Hallo, Leute! Wie geht es dir heute? See? Wait actually now that I think about it, I already knew how to say that in German, just not how to spell—we're getting off-topic.)**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter! Please try your best to enjoy this chapter the same way I'm enjoying these reruns of Full House!**

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:**

**I feel really really bad about this. But school's starting tomorrow and that means that I'm going to be much more busy. Don't worry, I promise to still work on this story as often as possible, but I'm not going to be able to update every day.**

**But I WILL update whenever I can, and I'll write as often as possible.**

**Love y'all!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling. If I was, I'd probably be somewhere cooler than typing this out at 10:49 PM. Wait a second...**

**Either way, I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Lily's POV:

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid._

I felt like hexing myself.

Why did I have to dance with James? And _why_, oh _why_ did I have to almost kiss him?

Bloody hell. _I almost kissed James Potter_.

I groaned and flopped back onto the sofa.

The night had ended with a bang when a bunch of bunnies came out, and everywhere they stepped, burst into flames. Pandemonium broke out, until the professors realized the fire was fake and managed to extinguish it. Sirius and Peter, who assumed full responsibility for the prank, lost Gryffindor 20 points, and then things quieted down.

Slow songs had continued to play, and I had searched the room for James, just to find him dancing with his date. His stupid Keeper girlfriend.

My hand unconsciously went and played with my charm bracelet nervously. What had happened to me?

Suddenly, the Marauders walked in the common room. I glanced at them for an instant. then my eyes snapped away. I quickly picked up the closest book, opened it to a random page, and closed my eyes behind it, silently hoping and praying that they wouldn't notice me.

"Hey, Evans, why's that book upside down?" I heard Sirius's voice calling.

I mentally cursed, then set the book down. All four Marauders were standing in front of me. "I...errm...wanted to see if I could read it upside down."

They all shot me disbelieving looks, so I added, "It's harder than it looks, y'know."

"Evans went off her rocker," Sirius whispered loudly to Peter, who did a poor job of hiding his giggle.

I rolled my eyes, and closed the book, setting it on the table. I glanced back at the staircase, saying, "I think I'm gonna go get some sleep now, so, if you don—"

"Actually, Lily, I was hoping I could talk to you for a moment," James said, and I felt like cursing.

"Err...alright, but make it quick."

James nodded, and shoved his three friends away. They left hesitantly, Sirius shooting James a look I couldn't recognize.

Then James sat next to me. I watched him swallow, then look at me. "Look, about earlier—"

"It meant nothing." I wanted to hex myself. But he had a bloody girlfriend. I couldn't ruin that, no matter how really, really, badly I wanted to.

He looked at me cautiosly, and my eyes darted away from his. "I'm not so sure about that, you seemed just as into that kiss as I did."

"It was _not_ a kiss. We did _not_ kiss."

"But we almost did, admit it."

"I had a lot of butterbeer."

"Butterbeer isn't strong at all."

"When you have enough of something, _anything_ can mess your brains up."

"So you're saying you let your brains 'mess up'?"

"I was bored, alright? And I let myself bump into that table, didn't I?" Wow, this lying was coming pretty easily to me.

"True..."

"Look, James," I said, and took a deep breath, reminding myself that I needed to do this, that he had a girlfriend, that I couldn't start some love triangle. "You're a great friend, which is...surprising, to say the least. And I like you, but only as a friend."

"Then why'd you want to go to the Ball with me?"

"I needed someone to go with, why else?"

"Why didn't you go with Aubrey?"

"I told you, I broke up with him after I caught him snogging some Hufflepuff!"

"Wait, he was _cheating_ on you?!"

"Yeah, and I got mad and I asked you! It doesn't mean I fancy you or anything, I just needed a date!"

He stared at me, studying my face, before standing up abruptly, and walking out of the room. I watched him march up the staircase.

I leaned back in my seat and sighed. Couldn't things just be easy for a change?

* * *

James's POV:

"Padfoot!" I whispered loudly. "Pads, where are you?"

Sirius popped out of nowhere, shouting, "Boo!"

I jolted back momentarily, and he laughed. "Not funny, Padfoot."

Sirius grinned. "So what'd Evans say? She finally come to her senses?"

"Well...not exactly. She said she likes me as a friend."

Sirius gave me a disbelieving look. "But she almost kissed you!"

"She said she was tipsy on butterbeer."

"How can you get tipsy on butterbeer?"

"I dunno, I guess if you drink enough and are a really bad drunk? But that's not the point! Listen, Aubrey was cheating on her! I _told_ you there was something wrong with that guy?"

Sirius didn't say anything for a moment, then said, "Wanna try out that head-enlarging hex on him?"

I grinned. "C'mon."

* * *

**I'm too tired right now to come up with a decent author's note to end this chapter with so umm yeah enjoy and review.**


	30. Time for the Valentine Day Ditch

**Hey everybody! :D What's up?**

**We're going to take a slight detour from the Lily x James action for a moment.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**emlovesyouxx: Read all of your reviews in one go. OMG YOU ARE TOO SWEET! :D thanks for reading!**

**VannahWeasley: Haha, glad you liked that chapter. Personally, though, I decided Lily wouldn't know about what they did to Bertram, you know? And I don't know about a schedule, but my goal/aim is to update at least twice a week (and no less than once per week FOR SURE)**

**And thanks SO much to all the other reviewers!**

**I feel kinda guilty cuz I never intended to write the scene where they hex Bertram. But if you guys really want it, I'll tryto add it in.**

**Disclaimer:**

**Stewart: Phyllis, does xx. own Harry Potter?**

**Phyllis: Of course not, why would she own Harry Potter?**

**Me: Are you two talking about me again? Because I'm right here, I can hear you.**

**Stewart: Did you hear something, Phyllis?**

**Phyllis: No, I didn't hear anything.**

**Me: Oh great, the turtles are ignoring me. Anyways, I don't own Harry Potter or anything recognizable.**

* * *

Remus's POV:

"Happy Valentine's Day, Remus!" Mary said, hugging me from behind. "Are we going to do anything today, because I was really hoping we could do something, it would really be a ton of fun, y'know, this is going to be my first Valentine's Day where I actually have a boyfriend, oh, I'm so excited, this is so exciting!"

I smiled over at Mary. "Hey, this is going to be my first Valentine's Day with a girlfriend, too."

"Ooh, really! Firsts for both of us! Oh, I can hardly wait, this is going to be so great! Hey, do you think that maybe we can take a nighttime stroll instead of a daytime date? Madame Puddifoot's and all the other places in Hogsmeade are going to be packed, and a picnic in the full moon would be _so_ romantic, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it? Remus, you listening?"

_Full moon? Tonight? _I thought. _How did I forget? I'm usually very alert on these things! Godric, not on Valentine's Day!_

I turned to Mary, and nervously began to rub my hand against my arm. "Look, Mary, tonight's not a good time for me. Can't we go...now? If we go now, we can finish the date in just a couple hours!"

Mary watched me. "Remus, why can't we wait 'til tonight?"

Oh snap. "Err...you see, my mom really needs me tonight, her illness is getting worse."

"Oh, can't you go tomorrow night?"

"Can't, I've got prefect rounds tomorrow night."

"But it's Valentine's Day tonight! Surely Dumbledore will understand—"

'I'm sorry, Mary, tonight's just not good. We can have that nighttime picnic next week, alright?"

"But there won't be a full moon next week, and it won't be as romantic!"

"I—I'll—look, Mary, I'm really sorry, tonight's absolutely no good."

"Can't your mo—"

"Please, Mary."

She huffed. "Fine."

I shot her a grateful smile, and she shot one back. "Well, if we're going for a daytime date, we'd better get going now, then, right?"

I nodded, and we headed over to Madame Puddifoot's first. However, as Mary had oredicted, it was full. There was even a huge line! I turned to Mary and suggested the Three Broomsticks, but when we got there, they were holding some sort of Valentine's Day party for the Single.

Then I got an idea. "Hey, how about we do that picnic now? It may not be nighttime, but the weather's great!"

She nodded. "Alright. Where are we going to get some food?"

I thought about it for a moment. I decided to head down to the kitchens and get some food. Maybe I could get one of my friends to go with me. "Give me just a few minutes, okay? I'll be back with some food."

Mary shook her head. "Lemme come, too. It'll get boring all by myself."

I sighed. "Sorry, I really can't let you come."

"And why not?" she demanded.

_Oh man, she's angry_, I thought. _But __I can't tell her about the kitchens, it's the Marauder_ code!

I decided to tell her half the truth. "There's a secret way we Marauders get food for our parties, but I can't tell you or show you how."

She sighed. "Fine. Fine. Go. Just be back soon."

I didn't like her tone, it seemed to land right on the border between angry and disappointed. But there really wasn't anything I could do.

I tried to make it up for her by giving her a quick kiss and saying, "Be back in a moment."

I started to run off towards Honeydukes, where there was a secret passageway that led straight into Hogwarts. In there, I noticed James and Chastity, sampling sweets.

I tapped on James's shoulder. "Hey, Prongs, could you help me get some food so me and—"

James glanced nervously at his girlfriend. "Sorry, Moony, but I promised Chastity I'd stay with her.

I groaned. "You're no help when you're on a date."

"You sound like Padfoot, 'cept he said I'm no fun when I'm on a date, not no help."

I rolled my eye. "Can I at least borrow your cloak?"

He said, "I left it in my trunk," and turned back to Chastity.

I then noticed Peter sulking in the corner. I ran up to him.

"Hey, Wormy," I whispered. "Can you gowith me into the kitchens? I need to get some food so me and Mary can go on a picnic."

Peter sprang up immediately, obviously glad to have something to do. Suddenly, I felt sorry for him. It must be awful being the only Marauder not with a girlfriend, being the seventh wheel.

"Hey, Pete, maybe we can set you and a girl up," I suggested to him the moment we got into the passageway. We each grabbed one of the brooms that we always kept in this tunnel*. We started flying down. Both of our brooms were a little shaky, but then again James and Sirius had always been the natural fliers of the group.

Peter looked at me, almost astonished at my suggestion. "Set me up?"

"Yeah," I responded. "There's got to be some girl out there that's right for you."

Peter gave me an interested look, before saying, "Alright, maybe. Anyways, how's things with you and Mary?"

I bit my lip. "It's _how're_, not _how's_. And...not so good. She got mad at me because I couldn't go on a date with her tonight. Full moon, y'know."

"Why would she be mad?"

"Dunno. I guess she thinks I'm ditching her for something voluntary." My eyes widened. "Merlin, I hope she doesn't think I'm cheating on her!"

"That's be bad, for sure. But why don't you just tell her the truth?"

I gave him an apprehensive look. "Wormy, it's not as easy as that. What if she dumps me because she's scared of me? What if she tells her parents? They might pull her out of Hogwarts, all because of me. Or she might tell other people, and they'll tell their parents, and _they_ might even tell a bunch of other people, and they'll petition to have me pulled out of Hogwar—"

"Watch it, Moony, you're starting to turn into your girlfriend with all that babbling."

I chuckled. "Right. But anyways, what should I do?"

"I dunno, I've never been in a situation like this. You're the one everyone goes to for advice, remember? Not me. Why don't you just ask yourself? You'll figure it out, you're smart enough."

I thought about it. "I s'pose you're right. Oh, look, we're here."

We then headed inside, snuck into the dorms, snatched James's invisibility cloak, and went into the kitchens, where the house elves were all too eager to give us delicious picnic foods. We quickly returned back to Honeydukes, and we parted. I decided to stay under the cloak so I could surprise Mary. When I saw her, sitting on a wooden benchm alone and clearly bored as could be, I sat next to he and yanked the cloak off me.

"Hullo, Mary."

She gasped. "Remus!"

I smiled. "Got the food. Shall we have that picnic now, madam?"

She smiled back at me. Merlin, I really liked this girl.

We started eating, and when we finished, I Banished the trash and we laid down. laughing and talking and having a good old time. It was all really great and sweet, but then I noticed the sun was starting to set.

Had the day really gone by that fast?

I stood up abruptly. "Mary, we'd better get going right now."

She glanced at me. "Why the rush?"

"It's just getting really late, we should get going soo—"

"Can we at least watch the sun set? The sun setting is really roma—"

"Mary, we really need to go _now_. You can stay by yourself if ou want but I really need to head back—"

"Why are you so intent on—"

"C'mon, Mary, I have to—"

"Why do you—"

"I don't have time to explai—"

"Remus!"

"Mary!"

Then I ran off, hating myself with everything I had.

* * *

**Dun dun dunnnnnnn!**

**1) I know there's nothing about brooms in the books, but Harry describes the trip through the tunnels feeling like an hour, and I feel like the Marauders would have been a little impatient, and hidden brooms on either end of the tunnel to make a quicker travel.**

**Reviewww!**


	31. Death Eaters and Girls Nights

**Hey everyone! :)**

**Just so you know, think of this part of the story as the Mary and Remus subplot, haha. There's going to be one more chapter after this about them, and then it'll switch back to the stuff you (and I) came for: Lily and James.**

**Rhi (Guest): Haha, don't worry, I have no intention whatsoever of not continuing my story :))**

**Bthedancer14: I know what you mean, I love Tonks, too! Anyways...you'll see what happens to Remus and Mary.**

**sanbeegoldiewhitey: Wow, thanks for all of your reviews! I loved reading each and every one of them :D made me think :)))**

**The K1D: Aww, thanks for that revie (:**

**Disclaimer: I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world, but I'm not JK Rowling, and she's the one with the rights to Harry Potter.**

* * *

Remus's POV:

"Moony, wake up."

I groaned. "I don't want to."

"He's awake."

Suddenly, I felt hands on my shoulders, and they were shaking me violently. My eyes popped open, and I glared at Sirius.

"Don't even think of doing that ever again." Then I leaned back in my chair and let out a sigh. "Well I blew it last night."

James gave me a look. "Blew what?"

I bit my lip, and told them everything. I told them how Mary had wanted a midnight picnic, how I'd refused, how I went with Peter to the kitchens, how I'd ran away from Mary when the sun started to set.

"Blimey, Moony," Sirius said. "That must've made things so much worse."

Suddenly, James elbowed him and said, "Ssshhh!" But I'd already noticed it.

"What d'you mean by _worse_?"

"Why, absolutely nothing, my dear friend."

I turned to Peter. "Fill me in?"

Suddenly, James sighed, then spoke up. "Mary was gone this morning. According to the girls, she got a letter from the Ministry late last night saying that he parents died."

I popped up so I was sitting straight. "What? Her parents died?"

James slowly nodded. "They were killed by Death Eaters. They were Muggles, you know."

I shooke my head. "This is bad. I need to go talk to her."

Peter spoke up. "But she's not even here right now, she was gone by this morning."

"Merlin," I breathed, and leaned back in my chair. "I can't believe this."

None of my friends said a word.

* * *

"Guys, Mary's back!" Frank said, rushing into the dorms.

A whole week had passed since Mary's departure, and I had long since given up on the hope that she'd respond to any of my owls. Needless to say, I was anxious to see her.

I dropped my book, which accidentally fell onto Sirius. After muttering a hasty apology, I dashed down the staircase to the common room. Sure enough, Mary was there, as was Lily, Frank, and Alice.

I watched Mary carefully. She was talking with her friends, but it was obvious she was still stricken by her parents' deaths, because she wasn't rushing through her words the way I had grown to love.

She glanced up at me, and shot me a faint smile. I smiled back, and gave her a hug.

I asked, "How're you doing?" even though I knew how stupid a question it was. Nonetheless, she shrugged, and fell back onto the sofa. I sat down gently to her left, and watched as Lily sat to her right.

"So how was the funeral?" asked Alice.

Mary opened her mouth to speak, but I interrupted. "Wait, they already had a funeral? I wasn't invited?"

I noticed Alice glaring at me, but Mary answered, "I dunno, I thought that...since...y'know...you ran off so quickly that night, I thought maybe...you didn't like me anymore, and you wouldn't want to come."

I gaped at her. "Mary, of course I like you, I really like you, alright?"

She nodded, and her head fell on my shoulder. I wrapped my right arm arund her, as e guilt seemed to be eating me up.

_She thought I didn't like her._

I wanted so badly to tell her the truth, and I knew it was the right thing to do.

But...her parents just died. She needed time to recover, and last I checked, finding out you're dating a monster isn't exactly a quick recovery method.

Some other time.

* * *

As the next couple of weeks passed, I kept finding new excuses to not tell Mary my secret.

It started with Mary's grief, but Mary was a strong girl, and it soon came to my attention that she'd be able to handle my news.

So then I convinced myself that she needed time time catch up on all the classwork she'd missed during the week she was gone. But with Lily as a close friend, she soon caught up.

Next I settled with the fact that, since Fenrir Greyback was in league with Voldemort, she'd think I was evil, too. It took me a while to convince myself Mary was that easily swayed, but once I did, I found myself getting depressed with that thought, so I stopped thinking about that.

Finally I had to face the simple truth. I, Remus Lupin, was scared.

I found myself avoiding her. If I noticed her coming my way, I'd take a detour. When we went on dates, I was extra careful to steer the conversation away from any topic that might possibly lead to her finding out I was a werewolf.

Soon enough, I found the next full moon approaching rapidly.

This time, however, I was much more wary about setting a date during that time. I asked Mary out the night before, and intended on asking her out again during that date, and that I'd set the date sometime after the full moon.

It didn't happen like that, however.

Mary ended up canceling our date in favor of a girls nit with her friends. I was mildly annoyed that they had chosen _that_ night for their girls night, but I knew I wasn't exactly in a position to protest, so when Mary told me about the cancellation, I had no choice but to simply nod and say I understood.

This turned out to be a really bad decision on my part. I should hve stopped her.

Because girls nights involved Mary spending time talking to other girls.

Girls like Lily Evans.

* * *

***Dramatic tone* Is Remus ever going to tell Mary that she's dating a werewolf? If yes, how will she react? If no, what will Remus do with his conscience? And why is letting Mary go on a girls night with Lily such a horrible thing?**

**Find out all these answers in the next installment of...**

**Learning To Love Him!**


	32. What Happens When You Keep Secrets

**Hey guys! Hope you're all having a good day :) You might not know this, but I care a lot about all of my readers! (even those who don't review and those who are reading this long after this story is completed)**

**Stewart: Wow, who'd've guessed you cared about anyone other than yourself?**

**Me: No one asked you, Stewart.**

**Phyllis: Don't talk to my cousin like that!**

**Me: I'll talk to him any way I want, turtle!**

**Phyllis: I'm a tortoise!**

**Stewart: Learn the difference!**

**Me: Okay, okay, I get it! Sheesh, stop ganging up on me like that! You two are very menacing reptiles.**

* * *

**Bthedancer14: Hmm, you'll see what happens in just a moment!**

**Sydrianfan4ever: Thanks! And don't worry, the plot will focus on Jily again real soon! I swear on it!**

**Lily153: Nice theory! Let's see if you're right...**

**VannahWeasley (Guest): Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoy high school! And you'll see what happens! It all unfolds here!**

**Lovewriting12: I read over your review like five times, grinning. Thanks, and we'll see if she slips or not...**

* * *

_ATTENTION!_

_After I'm done with this story (which won't be for a long while), I'm thinking of writing a next gen fic. However, I don't feel like I know the characters very well._

_So, could you guys recommend me some good Next Gen fics? I'll accept one-shots or long story, in progress, or complete. I don't care if you wrote it or not. I just want some decent Next Gen fics that have a canon compliant plot, and they have to help me to get to know the characters._

_You can PM me the links. If you don't have an account, you can leave a review._

_Gracias!_

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. But I do own Stewart and Phyllis.**

**Stewart: No you don't!**

**Me: Uhh, excuse me, where do you come from?**

**Stewart: Your...imagination. Dang it.**

**Me: Yes you do. Now go home so the readers can read this chapter!**

* * *

Remus's POV:

"REMUS JOHN LUPIN!" a high pitched voice shrieked angrily.

For a moment, I glanced up from the book I was reading and looked around, confused. I didn't know anyone who had _that_ high-pitched a voice.

"Whoop, whoop, angry girlfriend alert, angry girlfriend alert!" Sirius said, covering his mouth with his hand and imitating a distress alarm.

I glanced over at James, wondering what he did to make Chastity so angry. But he was giving me the exact same look I was giving him, and then I realized.

The girl had been shrieking _my_ name.

Mary.

I stood up quickly, and glanced between the staircase leading to the boys dorms and the portrait hole leading to the source of the noise. What I wanted to do was go crawl under my blankets in the boys dorm and hope that Mary didn't find me. But, sadly, I had to do the responsible thing.

I hopped out the portrait hole and noticed Mary marching towards me, an intensly infuriated look on her face. Following close behind her was Lily, shooting me an apologetic look my way. There was also Marlene and Alice, both looking slightly upset to be doing this, as well as a few other girls from some of the other Houses.

I walked up to her, and she punched me in the ribs.

"Ow!" I said, staring at her. "Why'd you do that?"

"Because you've been keeping bloody secrets fro—"

Lily quickly grabbed Mary's shoulder, and when Mary glanced in her direction, Lily gave her a meaningfuk look. Mary sighed, and grabbed my wrist, draggin me far away from the girls. "We need to talk."

Suddenly I felt nervous. _She knows, she knows, she must know, what else would this be about?_

Finally, once we were far out of earshot, Mary turned to me and gave me an irritated look. "Lily told me."

"Told you what?" I asked nervously. _She knows, she knows..._

"Why you ditched me on Valentines Day and why you're probably justgoing to ditch me again tonight."

_Yeah, she knows._ "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you—"

"You're _sorry_? You lied to my face! Over and over—"

"And I hated lying to you!"

"Then why did you?"

"I...I was afraid of how you'd react when you found out! I mean, most people don't take kindly to werewolves!"

I was expecting Mary to lash out at me again, but instead she just stood there, frozen. Then she spoke. "So it's true. Lily told me the truth."

I probably would've said something along the lines of "Yeah," but suddenly a new thought occurred to me. "Wait, hang on, why'd Lily tell you in the first place! She knew it was a secret!"

"I—she—that's not important right now! I mean, if we're asking questions about Lily now, why'd you tell her and not me! I mean, I thought you trusted me, but I guess no—"

"I didn't tell Lily, she figured it out on her own accord!"

"What, so you're saying I'm not smart enough to realize my boyfriend's a werewolf?"

"Most people don't figure it out!"

She groaned angrily and punched me again.

"Ow! You really gotta stop punching people like that!"

"Then you better start learning to trust me!"

"It's not about trust, I just don't like going 'round telling people I'm a werewolf!"

"Since when was I _people_?"

"You're not, I just—"

Suddenly, she threw another punch at me, before storming off towards the Gryffindor tower. I was about to run after her, when I bumped into something that felt like someone.

Suddenly, there was a fluttering of a cloak, and James, Sirius, and Peter appeared before me. All of them looked slightly shocked and lost for words.

None of us said anything for a moment, until finally I said, "What are you lot doing out here?"

James and Sirius exchanged looks, and James said, "It's the full moon tonight, did you forget?"

I glanced outside a window for a moment, and sure enough, it was getting dark. I sighed, and said, "Right."

* * *

The next morning, I tried talking to Mary again. But all she really did was ignore me. I mean, we sat next to each other during breakfast as usual, but Mary's back was turned, and she was talking animatedly to Alice. I glanced at Lily, who noticed this and was biting her lip.

The rest of the day, Mary seemed to be putting every effort into ignoring me. The next day was exactly the same. Finally, that night, I had rounds with Lily. Now that we had some time alone to chat without Mary, Lily seemed to decide it was her job to confront me.

"Mary's upset." she said the minute we started walking

"Think I haven't noticed?"

"She thinks you hate her because you didn't tell her—"

"I meant to—"

"—and then she also said you didn't follow her when she left."

"She's mad at me for _that_?" I asked, bewildered. After all, she was the one who had stormed off!

Lily just gave me a look. "Of course. The guy's supposed to follow the girl even when she's mad so she knows he cares."

To that, I wanted to respond, _Well, girls are mental! _but I decided to play the safe route and say, "I was going to, but it was getting dark and it was the full moon! And, anyways, why did you tell her! It wasn't even—"

"She was crying, alright?" Lily snapped at me, and I bit my tongue. "We were surrounded by a bunch of happy couples and Mary started crying because you'd been avoiding her — don't deny it — and she was afraid there was some other girl you'd been seeing—"

"That's ridiculous!"

"Not to her, though. Anyways, I only told her so she'd realize you weren't cheating on her! I didn't mean for it to backfire!"

I groaned. "You should've just let me take care of it, then she wouldn't have gotten so angry!" _I think._

"Well excuse me for not knowing it'd blow up! I'm no Lornell, you know!"

We didn't talk for the rest of the walk.

Bloody Gryffindor girls.

* * *

**So what'd you all think _this_ time? I tried to establish the idea that although Remus is definitely wiser than James and Sirius, he had a tougher time being smart when it comes to relationships.**

**Oh and just for the heck of it this is how I always imagined the ten kids sitting:**

**Before they all sat together:**

**Peter | | Sirius**

**Remus | | James**

**Random gryffindors**

**Frank | | Random**

**Alice | | Lily**

**Mary | | Marlene**

**After they all sat together:**

**Frank | | Random**

**Alice | | Sirius**

**Mary | | Lily**

**Remus | | James**

**Peter | | Marlene**

**I dunno if that makes sense to you but whatever. It's just the way I imagine it. Not that it matters, lol.**

**So huzzah huzzah and review!:)**


	33. Dear You, Love, Me

**hey again!**

**Well, we're back to Lily and James. (but you'll still see the aftermath of those last three chapters.)**

**I'm also going to take a new take for this chapter. I'm going to do the good old writing style lots of authors have used and write this chapter entirely in letters. (This chapter took _way_ more organization than most of my chapters do)**

**apoorvam77: :/ There's not going to be much about Sirius and Marlene, unless I go back and add it in to previous chaoters, which I might do when I'm done. You'll understand when you read his chapter though. :)**

**The K1D: Aww, thanks so much! Your review made me so happy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Duh.**

* * *

No POV:

Dear Mary,

How are you? Hope you're having a great summer! We should meet up sometime!

Love,

Lily

{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}

Dear Lily,

I hope you're well. My summer's been really boring, my parents have been away all the time fighting some Death Eaters. I hope they'll be all right.

Anyways, how are you? Hope your sister's not giving you too rough a time!

Love,

Marlene McKinnon

=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]

Dear Lily,

Thanks for the letter!

I'm good, I guess. My brother, my older one, not my brother, kept walking around the house all depressed, though. Said it was too sad ever since Mum and Dad died. I suppose he's right, though, Finally his girlfriend suggested we all take a vacation, so we went on a trip to America and I was sitting in a park, reading a Muggle magazine, and then these three really good-looking Muggle boys came over and started talking to me. One of them even asked me for my phone number, can you believe it? I gave it to him, and the moment I got home, he called me! It was so thrilling, getting a phone call! (I'm so used to owls and Floo)

Anyways, how are you?

Mary

=]=[=]=[=]=[=]=[=]=[=]=[=]=[=]=[=]

Dear Lily, (I'm still allowed to call you that, right? Haha)

How are you? My summer's been strangely quiet, since my parents have been off fighting Death Eaters and Sirius is too busy eating to be any fun. So I thought I'd owl you.

So what's going on? I hope you're having more fun with your family than ?i am with mine!

Love,

James

PS: This is Sirius. FOR THE RECORD I AM VERY FUN, YOU JUST HAVEN'T TRIED MRS. POTTER'S CHICKEN!

=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]=]

Moony,

How're you? I just sent a letter to Lily. Everything's so boring around here, and Pads keeps raiding my fridge.

Prongs

PS: Padfoot here. I AM VERY FUN. HOW MANY OF PRONGS'S LETTERS DO I HAVE TO INTERCEPT?

\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|

Dear Marlene,

Thank you so much for the letter! My summer's been alright, but, since you asked, Petunia has been as ghastly as ever. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I try to make peace with her, she always upturns her nose and runs to her boyfriends, Vernon. I miss spending time with her, but not as much as I miss spending time with my friends! We need to meet up sometime!

Love,

Lily

\|\|\|\|\|\\|\|\|\\|\\|\|\\|\|\\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|

Dear Mary,

Goodness, how many brothers do you have? (Don't answer that)

Wait, you met some cute Muggle boys? Does that mean you and Remus are over for good now?

Love,

Lily

=[=[=[=[=[=[=[=[=[=[=[=[

James,

Wow, your letter resembled the letter Marlene sent me so much I ended up laughing right where I stood. No, really, your letters were almost the same exact thing, just worded differently. Except for Sirius's little addition in the end.

Love,

Lily

PS: Tell Sirius he doesn't need to use capital letters the next time he adds a note to your letter.

#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|

Dear Lily,

Right. Remus. Well, a while ago, I'd owled Remus, and we sgreed to break it off. Didn't I tell you? It must've slipped my mind. Sorry about that.

Anyways, the Muggle boy's name is Matthew. He's so sweet! He's been calling me every day, and he keeps using the excuse that he likes my accent, but I think he really just wants a chance to talk to me.

Write back soon!

Mary

8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Dear James,

How are you? We haven't spoken since we parted at King's Cross! Do you suppose we could meet up sometime? Maybe we could go on a date to a Muggle restaurant, or even go to Diagon Alley. There are some really lovely shops there, you know!

Please write back!

Lots of love,

Chastity

8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-88-8-

Dear Chastity,

Yes, I suppose we can meet up sometime.

James

[][][][][][][][][][{[{[{]{

Dear Lily,

I write like Marlene? No, excuse me, Marlene is a girl, I am a boy, my letters are far more interesting than hers!

Wait a second. You're a girl. Forget what I said about boys' letters being more interesting than girls'. (But I still say my letter was better than hers by default.)

And furthermore, I told Sirius what you said about capital letters and he yelled at me for about ten minutes straight before I had the good sense to use a Silencing Charm on him. Then I got a letter from the Ministry telling me not to use magic underage, or I'd get expelled. I actually had to write them back, just to remind them I was seventeen already. And then they wrote me an apology back. I'm thinking of framing it, just so that I can cherish the memory that the Ministry of Magic apologized to me.

Also, Sirius was still silenced the entire time this happened. I told him I couldn't uncharm him because I forgot how (that was a lie), and he tried to beat me up (I'd taken his wand). Now there's no safe place in my house. (I'm at Peter's house right now)

All this from one little letter of yours, Lily.

Love,

James

}}}}}}}}}}}}

Prongs,

Eh, things are all right, I guess. I mean, it's been sort of awful ever since Mary and I broke up, but on the other hand, it's been much less stressful. Or maybe the lack of stress comes with the fact that I haven't seen any of you lot all summer. (My mum says it's much less stressful for her, too.)

-Moony

38383838383838383838383838383838383838383838383838 3838

Moony,

Oh, just for that, I'm visiting your house as soon as I can get back home for my brooms, without Padfoot finding me.

Want me to talk to McDonald for you?

Prongs

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Prongs,

What did you do to Padfoot, what did he do to provoke you, and where on earth are you now?

No, I'm all right, no need to talk to Mary for me. After all, knowing you, you'd just make matters worse, haha.

-Moony

%.%.%.%%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%..%.%.%

Dear James,

When's our date? I'm looking forward to it!

Yours,

Chastity

#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|

Dear James,

Why haven't you responded to my letter?

I want to hear from you!

Love,

Chastity

%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%.%

James,

You haven't replied to my last two letters. Where are you?

Yours,

Chastity

()()()()()(()()()()()()()()()()()()()(()()

James,

Where are you? Why aren't you responding to my letters?

Chastity

_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]

James Potter,

If you don't reply to me soon, so help me, I'm flying over to your house to confront you!

Chass

)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)

James,

Where do you live? I don't know where to confront you!

Chastity

%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%

James,

You should've responded by now. Are you hurt? Is something wrong?

Chastity

!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!

James,

Please reply! I'm getting worried!

Chastity

K,K,K,K,K,K,K,K,K,K,K,K,K,K,K,K,

James,

Did I do something wrong? Was it something I said? Why are you ignoring me?

Chasity

%_%_%_%_%%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%%_

Dear Lily,

I just now realized that Sirius lives with James. Now that I know where he lives, I think I'm going to pay him a surprise visit.

Wish me luck!

Marlene McKinnon

#|#|#|#|#||#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#|#

Moony,

Well, Sirius was being annoying, so I used a Silencing Charm, and I didn't take it off, so I was staying at Wormtail's house for a while. Mr and Mrs Pettigrew are some weird folk, no wonder Wormy never invited us over!

Anyways, I returned last week, and my mum was there, and she'd uncharmed Sirius. Then she scolded me. Then she left AGAIN.

But what happened yesterday was crazy. I was actually writing the first part of this letter, when I heard Marlene McKinnon start yelling, so I ran downstairs. And there was Sirius, snogging with some Muggle girl I'd never seen before, and Marlene was having a meltdown. It was insane. The second Sirius saw her, they both started yelling and the rest of the day was mental.

On the bright side, my summer stopped being boring.

Prongs

|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\

Dear Marlene,

Gosh, sorry I didn't write sooner! I was preoccupied with the bloody Dursleys. I'll tell you about it if you like.

Good luck!

Love,

Lily

_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_ ]]_]]]_]

Dear Marlene,

It's been a week. Why haven't you written back? Something wrong?

Anyways, it's a good thing you didn't ask about the Dursleys. I'll say this though: Vernon's sister, Marjorie, is HORRID!

Love,

Lily

[|][|][|][|][|][|][|]

Dear James,

James, I'm your girlfriend, why haven't you owled me?

Chastity

_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]_]

Chastity,

I'm so sorry I haven't responded. Don't get mad, but I'm going to have to take a raincheck on our date.

James

%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%_%

Dear Lily,

How are you now?

The entire household's been buzzing lately. Remus and Peter finally decided to drop by, and the entire house has practically been wrecked.

We should get an award for wrecking the entire place, really. I mean, we live in a really big house.

Anyways, in the midst of all this Marauder action, Peter got himself accidentally stuck in a tree, so Remus and Sirius are trying to figure out a way to get him down without using magic. (I still have Sirius's wand and Remus has been challenging himself to live like a nornal Muggle.)

Love,

James

\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\\|\|\}\}\}\}\|\||\|\|\||\|\|\|\||\\|\||\|\\||\|\|\\|\||\|\

Dear James,

You. Wrecked. Your. Entire. House.

I really would chastise you, but then again, I nearly wrecked my sister's boyfriend's parents' house, so I guess I'm no longer one to talk.

Other than a surprise visit from Alice and Mary last weekend, my summer's been rather uneventful. Mostly I've been taking trips to the nearby Muggle library to read.

How long have you had Sirius's wand? I'm surprised he hasn't broken your rib with his Beater skills.

Love,

Lily

]{]{]{]{]{]{]{]{]{]{]{]{]{]{]{]

Dear Lily,

I had to read your letter over several times before I was finally convinced that I'd read it right the first time. You nearly wrecked a house? Tsk tsk tsk, shame on you. You're a prefect, you're supposed to be responsible! Then again they also made Remus a prefect, so I don't know what they were thinking.

On the other hand, you say you've been reading a lot. Hmm, reading sounds ike a very prefect-y thing to do. Maybe you're right for the job after all, ha ha.

Oh, I've had his wand all summer. But he stopped attacking me because...well...I still have my wand. I defended myself with jinxes and hexes so many times he should be grateful he's still alive, ha ha.

Love,

James

:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/

Dear Lily,

I'm sorry for not responding to your letters recently. I've just been down in the dumps lately. You may be wondering why.

Well, remember when I said I was going to surprise Sirius? Well, I guess it was really Sirius who surprised me, because when I got there, he was snogging some girl? Can you believe it? So I asked him who she was and he got all panicky and we ended up yelling at each other for ages, so I broke it off with him.

Anyways, I think we should stop hanging out with the boys. In fact, don't even talk to them. I just don't want to have any reason at all to get anywhere near that huge liar and cheater.

Thanks,

Marlene McKinnon

:/:/:/::/::/:/:/::/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/:/: /:/:/:/:/:

Dear Marlene,

I can't believe Sirius would do a thing like that! Well...actually I can, which I suppose just makes it worse.

Are you sure it's fair to not talk to any of the boys? I mean, it was only Sirius who did the bad thing.

But I suppose, if it really really means that much to you, I'll stop talking to them.

Love,

Lily

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Dear Lily,

Why haven't you responded to my letter? Not to sound like a clingy girlfriend, ha ha, but it's been three weeks.

Was it something I said? It was the insult towards the prefect thing, wasn't it? All right, I'll take it back, but I still say Remus has been more of a prat than he used to be.

Love,

James

PS: Reply!

",",",",",",",",",",",",",",",",",",",",",","

Dear Alice,

Did Marlene owl you about what Sirius did, too? She owled me, and told me not to talk to the Marauders. Personally, I don't think that's fair of her. I mean, I have to be a good friend, of course, so I won't talk to them, but I wish I could still spend time with them. Also James has been sending me owls and I can't even reply to them.

Love,

Lily

1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-

Dear Lily,

Yeah, Marlene owled me too. I admit, it is slightly unfair, but there's one thing I don't get. Why do you care so much? I thought you used to hate them.

Love,

Alice

7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7/

Dear Alice,

Well, I never really hated them, just intensely disliked. But that was before. They've grown on me, you know? But, either way, never mind, just forget I ever said anything.

Love,

Lily

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Dearest Frank,

I was just owling Lily right now, and I'm fairly sure that Lily fancies one of the Maruaders!

Love,

Alice

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: -:-:-:-:

Dear Alice,

Hmm, that's funny.

Love,

Frank

PS: Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron tomorrow at ten. We haven't gone on a real date since the year ended.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Dear Lily,

Where are you? The holiday's almost over, and you still haven't replied to my last letter. I'm starting to miss your letters.

Love,

James

#~#~#~#~#~#~#~##~##~~#

Chastity,

Sorry for not sending many letters to you recently. I've just been busy sending letters to Lily and other people. It's been quite a lot to handle, you know. Not to mention Sirius being an idiot.

James

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}}{}{}{}{}{

James,

I think I'm finally starting to see what's going on here. You fancy Lily, don't you?

Chastity

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Chastity,

Of course I don't "fancy Lily", I like you. Don't be stupid.

James

0-0-0-0-00-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-00-0-0-00-0

James,

Don't you dare call me stupid! And I know you like Lily more. I've been denying it to myself ever since we started dating, but it's obvious now. To make it easier on you, I think we should break up.

Chastity

{|{|{|{|{|{|{|{|{|{|{|{|{|{|{|

Chastity,

All right, maybe you're right. But can we at least still be friends? After all, we're both on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

James

[_[_[_[_[_[_[_[_[_[_[_[_[_[_[_[_[_[

James,

Okay, we can still be friends.

Chastity

* * *

**So what do you think? This chapter took a LOT more planning than they usually take, but I think it turned out well. And I probably had more fun on this chapter than I've ever had before. AND, somehow, the word count is twice what it usually is.**

**There's something suspicious but intentional in this chapter. It'll be a little relevant in the future. I'm wondering if any of you can figure it out without my giving you clues.**

**Anyways, you know the drill! Review!**


	34. This Is The Comprimise

**Bonjour, and welcome to the latest installment of my story! Today we are starting to delve into the fascinating depths of seventh year, where you-know-what happens!**

**Gah I got a headache because at first I reposted chapter 33, then i reposted chapter 3 and then Chapter 5 and then it wouldn't post this chapter for ten minutes and i had to get ready for school!**

**200 reviews. Two. Hundred. Reviews. OHMYFREAKINGGODIHAVETWOHUNDREDREVIEWS! I LOVE YOU ALL!**

**HeyItsErin: haha, glad to see you enjoye dit that much :D**

**apoorvam77: Haha, Chastity's letters. I was cracking up while writing them.**

**JillyFan (Guest): You're right! You ARE my 200th review! Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, no matter how many stars I wish upon.**

* * *

Lily's POV:

"You have your Head Girl badge, right, Lily?" my mum asked me.

I laughed. "Yeah, I have it," and I pulled it out of my bag.

My mum looked at it fondly. "You know, I'm so proud of you."

I smiled at her. "Thanks, Mum."

We hugged for a moment, and then she said, "Now get onto that train and make this year the best of your life!"

I grinned, and ran off, waving.

I was still holding the Head Girl badge in my hand, and I decided that now was as good a time as any to put it on.

I still was recovering from the shock that I was made Head Girl. When I told my friends, they all insisted it was no surprise at all, and that I was a shoo in. But I still couldn't help but be surprised.

I wondered who the Head Boy was. The letter that contained my badge had neglected to tell me.

Assuming it would be one of the prefects, there were four possibilities. First was Remus. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be Head Boy. However, I had to hope he wasn't, because I'd promised Marlene not to talk to any of the Marauders and that would be impossible if Remus was Head Boy.

The next option was Bertram Aubrey, from Ravenclaw. I wanted, under no conditions whatsoever, to have my ex-boyfriend as Head Boy. That would be awful.

Then there was the Slytherin prefect, Evan Rosier. But I doubted he'd become the Head Boy, since it was obvious he was intending on becoming a Death Eater, and Dumbledore would never let a potential Death Eater have such power.

That left the Hufflepuff prefect, Leonard Truman*. I didn't really know him that well except for the fact that he was dating the other Hufflepuff prefect. Out of the four potential Head Boys, Leonard would have to be my first pick.

Depressing thought, really.

I was just stepping onto the train when someone ran into me from behind. "Lily!"

I turned around to face a grinning Marlene. We hugged each other, and stepped onto the train together.

"So how's your summer been?" I asked her.

She glanced at me. "You know how it's been."

"I meant other than boys being complete idiots."

A faint smile flickered across her face. "Right, well, my mum came home after a long mission. She kept talking back and forth. One moment, she'd be ranting about some Death Eater named Yaxley, the next she'd hush up and say, 'Auror business, never you mind.' Then she'd make soup."

I laughed. "All right, that sounds fascinating. If you want, I can tell you about my summer, but it'll have to wait until we're at dinner, I have Head duties until then."

She looked at me like I was crazy. "Really? You have 'duties' all that time? They're overworking you already, and you haven't even met the Head Boy!" We both laughed, and she added, "Well, be sure to tell me every last detail soon as you can, alright?"

I nodded, and we parted. I made my way to the prefect's compartment. So far, it was empty, except for one sixth year prefect sitting in a corner, sorting through his bag.

I sat down on the other side of the compartment and watched as the compartment slowly filled with chatting students. Soon enough, the cabin was nearly full, but still no sign of the Head Boy.

I glanced down at a Muggle watch my mum had bought me over the summer. It resting resting cozily right above the friendship bracelet, which I never stopped wearing.

Looking at the face of the watch, the prefect meeting was supposed to start in just a couple of minutes. When was the Head Boy going to sh—

"Hey, Lily-billy," a familiar voice said, and I froze. I slowly rotated my head upwards to see the face of James Potter staring at me, while leaning casually against the wall, and a slight smirk on his face.

I was about to comment that only prefects were allowed to be in here, but then I noticed his chest, and my eyes widened.*

He was wearing the bloody Head badge.

For a moment I considered the possibility that James had snagged the pin from Remus, who was tied up in a trunk somewhere, but then I noticed Remus who was sitting right behind James, with an ordinary prefect's badge pinned plainly on his shirt.

Which meant...

"Has Dumbledore gone mental?"* I thought to myself, and realizing a second later that I had spoken the words out loud.

James's smirk just widened. "That's exactly what Padfoot said, y'know. Except he used a slightly cruder language, if you know what I mean."

I was just about to laugh at that, but suddenly I remembered that I wasn't supposed to even talk to the Marauders. I clammed my mouth immediately, but I couldn't help wonder what I was expected to do. Obviously I had to communicate with James, him being Head Boy, not to mention Remus, who was still a prefect, but Marlene would have none of that.

Maybe a compromise would work. I could talk to the two, but strictly on a business level. No laughing, no teasing, no chatting.

I opened my mouth again. "Well, if you're really the Head Boy, and didn't just steal that badge," _Blimey, Lily, didn't you just say, no teasing?_ "then we'd better get this meeting started."

I could tell by the look in his eye that he was disappointed that I didn't laugh or respond to his comment; nevertheless, he nodded, and together we introduced ourselves as Head Boy and Girl, and started planning and rattling off duties and schedules.

When the meeting was over, we arranged a second meeting to come in the following week, and the prefects departed. I was dismayed to find papers and little scattered all over the floor, so I quickly bent down to clean them up.

However, I could still feel the presence of somebody else in the room, and I was dismayed when James Potter knelt next to me and began to help me clean up.

I was about to make a snarky comment on the fact that he was actually cleaning up, but then I remembered Marlene.

_Don't talk, don't tease. Strictly formal, that's the comprimise._

Suddenly, I heard James chuckle. I turned and gave him a questioning look, and he shook his head. "Who'd've thought I'd be cleaning up someone else's mess?"

I laughed, it was just too ironic. "I was about to say the same thing!" I exclaimed, and the two of us laughed together.

_Screw comprimise, Marlene can't stop me from talking with a friend, especially if he's my fellow Head._

And so we ended up talking and laughing and cleaning. It felt so natural, so easy. Why couldn't it have been like this during first year and beyond?

I grinned at the thought and turned to him. We had just finished cleaning. He smiled at me. We watched each other for a moment.

Then he started to lean in.

The setting may not have been as romantic as it was during the Winter Ball, but that didn't stop the butterflies thrashing around in my stomach. As our faces gravititated towards each others', my eyes slid shut.

And then he closed the gap.

The kiss was slow, but intense, and his lips moved against mine perfectly. He started to wrap his arms around me, and I relaxed.

I was kissing James Potter.

Wait.

I was _kissing James Potter_.

Marlene.

Talking was one thing. But kissing...

Suddenly, I shoved him away from me, with both hands. I stumbled backwards slightly, trying to regain balance. He did too. I watched as he wavered where he stood, confusion and hurt swimming through his eyes. I felt terrible and guilty, but I didn't want to break my promise with Marlene.

So I did the only thing I could think of.

I ran out of the compartment.

* * *

**Yikes! Jily moment + insane internal conflict = this mess.**

**(I'm pretty sure I warned you a few chapters ago that things weren't going to be simple nor easy for the couple. I like to have fun and mess with my characters before I let them be happy. Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!)**

**1) Gabriel Truman was a Hufflepuff prefect when Harry went to Hogwarts(he's in Pottermore) Now, I'm pretty sure Gabriel is too old to have a dad in Lily's year, so let's just say Leonard is his youngest uncle or whatever, okay?**

**2) Originally I was planning on writing "then I noticed his shirt, and my eyes widened", but then I had the brilliant idea of "chest", and I just couldn't resist. I was laughing while I wrote that, too.**

**3) Who wants to make a bet on the number of times people have asked if Dumbledore's gone mental? My guess is at least a hundred.**

**Well, tell me what you thought in a review! :))))**


	35. You Have To Be Suave

**Welcome back, everybody!**

**yumyumbagel: okay, I'll read your story**

**Bthedancer14: Well, Lily can have a love life, just not with a Marauder. Stupid, but Lily doesn't want to betray her best friend.**

**Juliette Grimm: Oh my gosh thank you so much for review it was so thoughtful and sweet :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Harry Potter. Never have, never will.**

**Lol, I was reviewing this chapter, trying to pick a good title and I noticed the word 'suave' and I started cracking up like 'OMG did I really write that?' so holla that's the title.**

* * *

James's POV:

"Lying's a nasty habit, Prongs."

I glared at Sirius. "I'm not lying! I kissed her!"

"And she let you?" he asked, skeptically.

"Well..."

I recalled the memory in my mind. It had all gone perfect. We were chatting and laughing, and really hitting it off, and then suddenly something felt different in the atmosphere, something I had felt during the Winter Ball. I knew it was the right time to make my move, and I did. And it was going great at first.

Peter glanced my way. "She rejected you?"

"I — she — well — she didn't pull away at first, she seemed just as into it as I wa—"

Sirius, who had been gaping at me this entire time, spoke. "Listen, mate, and I mean this in the best possible way, but I think you were just imagining she—"

"I wasn't imagining it! She kissed me back!"

"But why," said Remus, "would she tear away?"

"Because — because —" I faltered, not sure how to answer. I cleared my throat and retaliated. "Why did she ask me to the Ball then, if she didn't like me?"

"Didn't she tell you it was just as friends? Like when she asked me to the Spring Dance, it was just as friends."

"Stop saying _just as friends_! She kissed me back, I know it!"

But each of my friends were giving me the same look: pity. I leaned back in my chair and groaned. "Why do girls have to be so bloody confusing?"

Sirius came over and sat next to me. "Look, I know you really like Evans, but you keep setting yourself up for disappointment. Every time she looks at you, you act as if she's flirting with you. And every time she smiles, you thinks she's smiling at you, but she's _bloody not_! Really, she's not in love with you, so stop convincing yourself that she is!"

His eyes had a huge sense of urgency, and I realised I had just caught Sirius in one of those few moments where he was actually serious.

I sighed. "But what should I do then? And don't tell me to forget about her, because I can't. I've tried, but I just can't stop thinking about her."

I leaned back. Remus and Sirius and Peter all exchanged looks, and none of us spoke for a while. Finally Peter said, "Well then get her to like you the same way."

Sirius nodded energetically. "Yeah! Definitely! You've got to charm her, be suave!"

Remus added, "But don't ask her out until you're certain she'll say yes."

"Maybe some big romantic gesture will convince her! You're both Heads, right? So you get your own rooms now! Maybe you can make a pathway of rose petals like they did in that movie—"

"You watch movies?" Remus asked him, eyebrows raised.

"Err.." Sirius said, scratching the back of his neck.

"And romance movies, no less," Remus added, looking quite amused.

"I—err—that's not important! Look, Prongs, you can do something big and romantic, and she'll have to fall for you! It'll work, I know it will!"

"No."

All three of my friends stared as me.

"What'd you say?" Sirius asked, with a look on his face as if he had heard me wrong.

"I said no." They all continued looking at me oddly, so I explained. "It was all the big romantic stuff I tried to in the past few years that ruined it, remember? If I just try and show off or woo her, she'll just go back to hating me. She'll think I don't see her as a person. I mean, she considers me as a friend now, right? I can't ruin it, I can only build upon it."

Sirius studied my face for a moment then turned to Remus. "What've you done to my best friend? He's acting all wise now!"

Remus laughed. "Well, Dumbledore _did_ make him Head Boy. I guess we now know why."

We all pondered that for a moment, and then I glanced out the window. "We're getting close to Hogwarts. We'd better get our robes on."

They nodded, and as Sirius started digging into his bag, he asked, "So then what're you gonna do?"

I bit my lip. "Errr...Moony?"

Remus shrugged. "It's up to you now."

I thought about that.

* * *

"Lily!" I called out.

Lily spun around to face me, her red hair flying around and then resting on her shoulder. When she saw me, I noticed a moment of panic, but then she hid it.

"Lily, I gotta talk to you about—"

"Head duties?" she interrupted. "Right, of course. Well, I figured that after the Feast we could go down to Dumbledore's office and check to see if there's anything else we needed to do that we fo—"

"That's not what I wanted to talk about," I said, mildly irritated.

"Oh, then the Head dorms? Well, in the letter it said we could choose our own password, so I figured we could—"

"That's not what I wanted to talk about either."

"Right. Erm...then I don't know what—"

"Lily, you know exactly what I need to talk to you about."

She bit her lip. "Sorry, but I don't." She glanced behind her nervously, and stepped back once.

"Why didn't you owl me?" I asked. That hadn't been what I meant to ask, but the ideapopped into my head and then to my mouth before I could stop it.

"Oh, that. I was, erm, busy. Look, I need to go meet Marlene," she said, and started rushing for her friend.

"Lily, wait!" I shouted, and ran after her. "Busy with what?"

Finally, I stopped. I turned around to face my friends, who had been trailing behind.

"Let's go get a carriage."

* * *

**What'd you think? Personally, I'm rather proud of this chapter, even if it has several cliches. I just like it cuz James is finally starting to really grow up.**

**Well, the only thing left to say is: review!**


	36. I Jinxed An Owl — Not Literally!

**Yo.**

**SydrianFan4Ever: What a coikydink, I was smiling all through writing that chapter.**

**emluvsyouxx: Haha, every time I wrote about Lily choosing her friends over James, I grit my teeth and think "This is stupid, Marlene should understand" but then again I'm the one who wrote it, haha, and I'm not undoing it at all. And don't worry, Lily and James will get together soon enough :)))**

**evilduckofwoe: Haha, glad you liked it, even if you are lazy :P**

**Disclaimer: If you go to my profile, you'll see clearly that my name is Rihanna Obama, not Jo Rowling, and that I like at 42 Wallaby Way Sydney, nowhere near the UK. Which I guess means that I don't own Harry Potter. Pity.**

**At any rate, enjoy!:)**

* * *

Lily's POV:

I was spending a lot of time on my own.

I loved spending time with my friends, of course, but now something that should have been simple was proving to be more and more impossible.

There was Alice and Frank, but they always seemed wrapped in their own worked, which always made me feel bad because the only relationship I had ever been in had been disastrous. And then, whenever I tried to talk to either one of them, they kept watching me intently and I'd get uncomfortable.

Then there was Mary and Marlene. Every time I talked to them, the subject of the Marauders kept popping up. They'd both talk as if they'd never been friends with them at all. And it was starting to make me sick. Peter wasn't a pathetic little twat. Sirius wasn't inconsiderate (well, not completely, at least). Remus wasn't a lousy secret-keeping prat. And James definitely wasn't a selfish idiotic jerk.

James.

Being around him was painful. He kept making such an effort to try to talk to me, and there I was avoiding him. I wanted to explain everything to him, just let it all out, and apologize, but I couldn't. First of all, there was Marlene, who of course expressly farbade me from talking to him for any social reason. Bit then there was also the embarrassment that I'd felt ever since the kiss.

The kiss.

I couldn't stop thinking about it. It meant so much.

It meant that one thing was 100% clear to me: I _definitely_ fancied James.

It meant he still fancied me.

It meant things were definitely going to be different for us.

But the way things were going, it wasn't going to be different in a good way.

I was sitting down against the wall in one of the deserted corridors, alone, thinking about all of this. It was like there was this huge, jumbled up knot in my life, begging me to untie it, but I was afraid that if I tried, I'd just tear the string completely.

I sighed, wondering how things could possibly get worse.

Suddenly, a big tan owl came flying into the corridor and dropped a rolled up scroll into my lap. I reached out and let the bird nip my fingers, and I resolved to buy myself an owl of my own whenever I got the chance.

When the bird finally flew away, I smiled, and then opened the letter.

I'd jinxed it. It turned out things _could_ be worse.

* * *

"Professor McGonagall!" I shouted, knocking rapidly on the door to her office.

I waited for a few dreadful minutes, before the woman finally emerged from the door. She looked at me for a moment, and then briskly asked, "What is it?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but found myself choking on the words. Instead, I silently pulled the letter out of my pocket and handed it to her. She took it, and scanned it. Then her eyes met mine.

"I'm so sorry, Lily," she said. I was too affected by what the letter had said to be shocked by McGonagall's rare sympathetic side.

I stood there motionless, trying to find the ability to speak. "I...I...can I go?"

She nodded immediately. "Yes, yes of course, you can Floo over there from my office right now if you'd like."

I nodded, and she let me into her office. I glanced at the fireplace for a moment, then hesitated. "Professor, it's not connected to the Floo Network, is it?"

She pondered that for a moment. "No it's not, but you can Floo over to London or Hogsmeade and Apparate from there. You have passed the test, right?"

I nodded, and Professor McGonagall handed the Floo Powder over towards me.

I took it, and was about to throw it into the roaring fire, but something held me back. "Oh, Professor?"

"Yes?"

"Oh, well, could you do me a favor?"

"Of course."

The words seemed tangled in my throat. "Could you not tell anyone what happened? I don't want to be bothered, but I'll explain when this is all over with."_  
_

McGonagall observed me for a moment, before responding. "All right, I understand. Just make sure you do tell them soon, understand? It's never..." She trailed off.

I nodded, then promptly Flooed over to Diagon Alley, and then Apparating to my house. I didn't notice until later that I had left the letter in Professor McGonagall's office.

_Lily,_

_Mum and Dad died a few days ago. You never came, so I guess you didn't hear._

_Anyways, come back to the house. We need to talk._

_-Petunia_

* * *

**This chapter was _not _a fun one to write.**

**And I know it's shorter then they usually are, and I'm sorry about that.**

**Originally, I was going to make the letter be from the Ministry and have her parents get killed by a Death Eater attack, but a week ago, I read one of Jo's interviews and apparently they died natural deaths, no killing. So I improvised.**

**Anyways, tell me what you thought!**


	37. Lily, the Zimbabwean Death Eater

**Aaaaaaaaaaand we're back!**

**SparklesJamesLilyHSM13: Aw, thanks for loving the story! And here's that update you wanted :D**

**apoorvam77: You'll see what happens ;)**

**vicweasley: Haha, thanks!**

**Disclaimer: Der rites too Hairy Podder aint mein. Eye done one Airy Podder enny mor dan yoo doo. Nulezz yer jay kay rowwleeng. (The rights to Harry Potter aren't mine. I don't own Harry Potter any more than you do. Unless you're J K Rowling.)**

* * *

James's POV:

The sudden disappearance of the Head Girl was the talk of everybody for the next week.

All of the professors seemed thoroughly unsurprised that she was missing, but they refused to answer any of our questions. They'd simply insist that "it was not withing their obligation to reveal any information to inquisitive but uninformed pupils."

Whatever that meant.

In the meantime, rumours spread like wildfire.

A few people were insisting that Lily had ditched school like several other seventh years had, in order to join the Death Eaters. I dismissed this rumour immediately, though. As if Lily Evans would ever join Voldemort.

Another theory going around was that her parents were secretly involved in some bizarre Voldemort-resistance-cult-slash-conspiracy-thing the Muggles formed. Where this theory came from, I had no idea. But it was so far-fetched on so many levels, I ignored it.

One rumor that amused me was that Lily had a fallout with her parents and had run away to Zimbabwe.

The things people cooked up.

But one theory stood out more than the others. It, unlike Lily becoming a Death Eater or a Zimbabwean, seemed entirely plausible. In fact, it seemed more than plausible, it just made everything make sense.

They were saying Lily had met a Muggle boy over the summer and had abandoned Hogwarts so as to be with him.

All the evidence seemed to support it.

First of all, Lily was Muggleborn, which meant she'd've had more than enough exposure to Muggle boys over the summer.

Then there were the letters. She'd abruptly stopped owling me. If she was spending time with a new boyfriend, then why would she want to waste time owling me?(1)

And, watching her this year through the Marauder's Map, I'd seen her spending a lot of time alone is deserted corridors. Why else would she be alone other than secretly communicating with a boyfriend outside of Hogwarts?

And then there was the kiss. If she had a boyfriend...and I'd kissed her...

Bloody hell. No wonder she'd been avoiding me this whole time.

I couldn't handle it. Lily having another boyfriend, her leaving Hogwarts in the middle of her seventh year — while she was Head Girl — just was too much to stand.

So much had changed.

And I couldn't help but feel as if it was all my fault.

Nine days after Lily's disappearance, me, Peter, Sirius, and Remus, were in the common room. Remus was looking over our Transfiguration notes (which apparently were too short, which seemed ridiculous to me; I already knew everything in the lesson). Sirius was chatting with Peter about the latest girl he'd been snogging, and I was sitting quietly in my chair. I'd been doing a lot of silent sitting lately.

Some chattering from behind me captured my attention. I recognized the voices as Mary's, Marlene's, and Alice's. They were talking about Lily.

"D'you s'pose it's true, then?"

"Lily? Nah, Lily doesn't seem the type to get pregnant, does she?"

"But if she was, that'd explain why she's been so moody and secluded this year."

"But Lily?"

"I dunno..."

"Why wouldn't she tell us?"

"Would you tell us?"

"Of course!"

"Hmm..."

"I would!"

"You seemed to have thought this over!"

"Are you implying—"

"Alice, shut up."

"But Mary practically accused me of being—"

"How long have you been with Frank again?"

"You two, shut up. We were talking about Lily, remember?"

"Right. D'you suppose she's got a Muggle beau, then?"

"Must've."

"She didn't mention anything in her letters..."

"Well, it seemed obvious to me she fancied someone, I just thought..."

"Thought what?"

"Nothin'."

"Tell me."

"Not now, Marlene."

"Fine...but I guess if Lily does have a boyfriend, she might as well be—"

I couldn't listen anymore. It was getting too painful.

I stood up immediately, and headed for the portrait hole."

"Prongs, where're you—" Sirius began.

"Out."

"But—"

"I just need to clear my head, alright?"

Sirius watched me closely, then stood up. "I'm coming with you."

I held out my hand. "That's alright, I'd rather be alone."

Sirius looked worried, and opened his mouth to protest, but Remus interrupted him. "He'll be all right, Pads."

Sirius glanced back and forth between us, then slowly sank bank into his chair.

I smiled momentairly, and I made my way out the portrait hole. Once out, I slipped my invisibility cloak on, and made a beeline down to the closest secret passageway that led out of Hogwarts.

It only took about five or ten minutes for me to emerge from the tunnel, a fair distance from the castle. Immediately I closed my eyes.

_I need to go somewhere. Anywhere._

Home was out of the question, because of awkward questions from my mother.

I just needed to go somewhere where I could distract myself.

I apparated to Diagon Alley.

The stores were lit up, flashing signs advertising new products. My eyes glazed right over them, taking in the light and shapes and color, but not caring what it all meant.

I kept walking distractedly. Even Lily's closest friends thought she had a boyfriend. It just made so much sense.

Soon enough, I found myself mindlessly wandering, not even noticing where I was. But then a sudden noise made my head pip up again, and I was instantly focused.

Sobbing

Lily's sobbing.

My head spun wildly around, looking. Then they landed on a familiar redhead, huddled up against a street sign, sobbing. Her arms were clutched around he knees and she was staring directly down.

I looked up at the street sign, and realized this was the intersection that led to Knockturn Alley. Why was Lily here?

I wanted to rush to her immediately, but I hesistated. Based after everything I heard, it seemed as if the cause of Lily would have to do with the Muggle boy. Maybe he hurt her. Maybe...maybe she really was pregnant.

But whichever it was, I knew it would be unbearable to listen to Lily going on about some other guy.

She sobbed again, this time choking on her sobs. It broke my heart to see her like this. I knew that whatever the problem was, it didn't matter. I had to help her, get her out of this area, comfort her.

I called out. "Lily."

* * *

**What do you think? :D**

**1) You know James has changed when he considers any time spent with him as time wasted. He's lost a LOT of his hot air.**

**And...REMEMBER TO REVIEW! :D lol**


	38. Perfectly normal, thank you very much

**HELLO WORLD! :DDDDDD**

**I'm typing this author's note in the middle of English class. Just thought you'd like to know.**

**Anyways, ENJOY**

**JillyFan (Guest): Thanks for that long explanation of the next gen characters, but that's not what I wanted. I memorized all of what you said a long time ago. I just wanted links to good fanfictions so I could have a better feel for who they, not their relationships with each other.**

**Disclaimer: Didn't I just say I'm in English class? Something tells me the person who owns the rights to Harry Potter (JK Rowling) isn't a high school student.**

* * *

Lily's POV:

"Lily."

I glanced up at the sound of my name. Then I saw him.

James Potter.

Suddenly I was extremely aware that I probably looked extremely awful. I turned slightly away from him to hide my face.

"Lily," he repeated, and I turned around to face him.

My voice was shaky. "H — h — ey — hey."

He glanced around momentarily, then walked over to me. "Are you okay? What're you doing here? Have you..." he trailed off.

I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn't find my voice.

James spoke up again. "Why are you here?"

I shrugged. "I didn't know where to go..."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Didn't know where to go? What about Hogwarts?"

"I..."

Suddenly, there was a scream coming from Knockturn Alley. Both of our heads turned towards the noise, and suddenly I was really grateful I wasn't alone anymore.

James turned to me. "We need to leave here." And with that, he reached forward and grabbed my hand, and the two of us Apparated.

I glanced around me. "Wh — where are we?"

James glanced up at the sky. "Hogsmeade." He glanced right down at me again. "You were saying?"

I bit my lip. I wanted to tell him, but I also didn't. But then, McGonagall's words rang in my ears. I had to tell my friends.

Granted, James and I weren't really great friends lately, but I knew he'd listen.

I took a deep breath, but found myself choke on the words

I hadn't spoken. James reached out, grabbed my shoulder, amd gently pushed me down. I sat down on the ground, which was covered in grass and sprinkled with flowers. James sat down in front of me, watching me carefully.

I spoke. "My...my mum and dad...they died, a few days ago. I got a letter." I closed my eyes and took another shaky breath. "My sister said we needed to talk, so I went home right away. Sh — sh — she started yelling at me. She said it was my fault they died." I gulped. "Apparently they were planning on buying me a present, since I'd been made Head Girl. Then a car came and — and...anyways, my sister, she told me to pack my things and move out. She said Dad had left the house to her in the will, and I didn't get to live there anymore. We argued about it, and she finally agreed to let me stay for the f — funeral."

I sighed, and opened my eyes. James was watching me with an unreadable expression. I continued. "Also, she's going to get married. And she told me that...that if I showed my face at her _perfectly normal, thank you very much_ wedding, that...anyways, the funeral was last night. My sister kicked me out just a few hours ago. I didn't have anywhere to go, so I Apparated to Diagon Alley. I wasn't paying attention, though, and I got lost on Knockturn Alley. The moment I realized where I was, though, I made a run for it. And...I ended up where you found me."

I looked down in my knees. I felt rather hollow inside. Suddenly, I felt an arm wrapping around my waist. My head snapped up, and I saw that James was now sitting to my left, and his right arm was pulling me into him. I tried to relax.

"Why didn't you come to Hogwarts?" he asked, in a gentle tone. "Or tell your friends...they were getting worried, they thought..." he trailed off.

I sighed. "I couldn't face anyone. Not until I'd calmed down, at least. I just didn't feel ready to see everyone, y'know? And my friends...I dunno, it's complicated."

"But what about Mary?" he asked. "Her parents died not too long ago, wouldn't she at least understand what you're going through?"

Shrugging, I responded, "It's just been difficult to talk to her — to any of them lately."

"Is that why you haven't been talking to me?"

I froze. With all these distractions, I'd forgotten all about my ignoring James. "I — no, that was something else."

"Then what—"

"Look, I'm sorry for ignoring you lately. It's just been a little confusing." I tried to explain as best I could without revealing too much. "I'll stop, though. I missed hanging out with you."

"But why? What it 'cause of what happened on the train?"

I laughed softly. "No, that's not the reason, though it certainly was a contributing factor. It...never mind."

Neither of us spoke for a while. The sun was starting to hang low in the sky, growing larger and redder.

James spoke up. "Y'know, everyone at school's been talking about you lately."

I raised my eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah, they've been coming up with theories as to why you mysteriously disappeared."

I laughed. "Oh? Like what?"

"Well, there were your typical 'she's an alien' rumours that nobody takes seriously. Some people were quite convinced you were involved in a Muggle Anti-Voldemort conspiracy."

"Don't say the—"

"Oh, now, Lily, don't tell me you're afraid of a word?"(1)

I scoffed. "Course not."

He smirked at me. "What were you saying just a minute ago, though? 'Don't say the'...?"

"I...so what else did people think?"

James continued to smirk at me. I rolled my eyes. Then he spoke. "Well, most of the Gryffindors believed you had a new Muggle boyfriend. Some even thought you were...pregnant."

I started laughing hard. "Me? A muggle boyfriend? Pregnant? Oh Merlin!"

He laughed too, although it sounded a little forced. I turned around and gave him an incredulous look. "James Potter, don't tell me _you_ were one of those people who believed it?"

"I — you have to admit, Lil, it makes sense!"

Then the two of us started laughing.

It was amazing. Wasn't I crying my heart out just a few minutes ago? And now here I was laughing...thanks to James.

I smiled up at him. He smiled back, but I saw some nervousness in his eyes.

"So..." he started. "No Muggle boyfriend?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Can't say I fancy a Muggle."

"Then you fancy a wizard?" he asked, and he was still nervous.

I turned away, so he wouldn't see the grin I was trying to surpress. "Well...yeah."

"Who?" he said, and I glanced at him. He was looking scared.

_Blimey_.

He still fancied me, and I still fancied him. The only reason we weren't together...

"Who?" James asked again. I silently laughed, and he furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused. "What?" His tone was hesitant. "What's funny?"

"Nothing," I replied, pressing my hands to the ground, getting ready to get up. "I'm just starting to think that we're both just a couple of idiots." Then, I really did stand up. "C'mon, we should get back to school, it's getting late."

He looked up at me, and I could tell he was still confused. _Boys_, I thought fondly.

"So, you're coming back to school then?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I must be awfully behind on my work." I watched as James chuckled, and stood up. "And, 'sides, it's like I said, I've got nowhere else to go now. And I'm feeling better now." I grinned. "Thanks to you."

* * *

**What'd you thiiiiiiiiink?**

**1) Lily, at one point, called Voldemort as You-Know-Who (reread the Deathly Hallows, you'll see). Of course, I think at some point, she, like Hermione, finally decided to say the name.**

**Now that you've done the first half of R/R (the R), why don't you do the second half (the R)?**


	39. Grand Theft Pancake

**Heeyyyyy**

**SparklesJamesLilyHSM13: Okay, first of all, did I get your username right? Second, haha, I enjoyed your review more than I should've.**

**Sydrianfan4ever: Haha, glad you're satisfied! Lol**

**Sidmaicler (Disclaimer): STEWART AM I JK ROWLING?**

**Stewart: That depends. Do you own Harry Potter?**

**Me: No**

**Stewart: Do you own the rights to any of the characters in this fanfiction?**

**Me: Only the OCs.**

**Stewart: Did you write Harry Potter?**

**Me: No...**

**Stewart: Do you own any recognizable characters and/or elements?**

**Me: I don't think so...**

**Stewart: I'll take that as a no.**

**Me: So what does this mean?**

**Stewart: It means you're not JK Rowling.**

**Me: Dang it.**

* * *

James's POV:

"Thanks to you."

I smiled at the beautiful girl in front of me. Merlin, I wanted to kiss her so badly.

Instead, I held out my hand. "C'mon, there's this tunnel that leads inside Hogwarts. We can Apparate to one end of the tunnel and be there in no time."

She nodded, and reahced forward, but then she paused. "Hang on, I need my stuff."

"Wait, where is it?"

"Back...at my house," she said. Then she sighed. "In Petunia's house, I guess it is now. I was in such a hurry to get out, I forgot to pick up my stuff."

I thought about that. "Where d'you live? I can Apparate in and out and get your stuff. She didn't kick _me_ out."

"No, but she didn't invite you in, either."

"You can't just leave your stuff behind."

"True..."

"C'mon, where do you live?"

"Here," she responded, and reached forward and grabbed my arm. The two of us went Apparating, and I instantly found myself in front of a very nice two-story house.

She pointed at a window. "That's it."

Befire she could continue, I apparated up there. Apparating was fun.

I scanned the room, and spotted a suitcase resting on too of the bed. I grabbed it, and opened the window. I leaned out, and held the suitcase up. "This it?"

She gave me a contemptuous look, before nodded. "Yeah, I packed everything in there."

I shot a smile down, and pulled myself away from the window. I wanted to take a good look at the room Lily Evans grew up in.

Like she said, she had put everything she needed in the suitcase, so the room was more barren than it probably was normally, but I didn't care.

There was a dresser, covered in scattered, useless papers. I shuffled through them momentarily, but they all were old schoolwork. I then examined the walls, which had a few posters in them. I guessed Lily didn't want to keep them. The posters were Muggle posters, and appeared to be posters for Muggle bands.

Her bed was made, and I looked at it, imagining her sleeping in it. Finally I gave up, deciding that anything interesting would be in the suitcase. I was debating the argument of whether or not I should take a glance in, (mostly whether or not it was ethical, but also whether I could get away with it) when I heard a noise coming from down the hall.

"Who's there?"

I cursed under my breath, then reached forward to grab the suitcase and make my escape, when the door came busting open.

A young woman, whom I could only assume to be Lily's sister, was in a nightgown, and her face was a mix of anger and fear. "Who — who — who are you?"

I decided to play it cool. "James Potter, at your service. I'm just here to pick up Li—"

Suddenly she spotted the wand in my right hand. "You're one of _them_," she said. I didn't like the way she said 'them'.

"Yeah, I am," I replied, and glanced out the window. An idea struck me, but I had to hope Lily couldn't hear. "And you're Lily's sister, Petunia, am I right?"

"Of course I am. Now listen you, get ou—"

"No, you listen. Thanks to you, Lily's been crying and hurt and alone and she has no place to go—"

"She has that freak school!"

"Hogwarts is not a freak school. And besides, she can't stay there forever."

"She'll figure something out."

"That's not the point!" I shouted, getting frustrated. "This is Lily's home, I'm guessing she grew up here, you can't just kick her out—"

"It's my house now, I can do what I want," she retorted, before huffing. I stared at her. This was Lily's sister? I always thought sisters were supposed to be there for each other, but Petunia was kicking Lily out of her life just because she could.

I got angry, remembering Lily's tear stained face. I remember fourth year, when I had seen her crying. I wondered if that was Petunia's fault, too.

I glared at her, and, without thinking, pointed my wand. "Oppugno!"

Suddenly, all the papers on the dresser started attacking Petunia. Without stopping to see her reaction, I grabbed the suitcase, and Apparated outside to face Lily.

Lily was staring at me with a look that suggested she'd heard everything I'd said, with a mixture of horror and gratitude, but I didn't stop to talk.

"Here," I muttered, trying not to let my anger show. I handed her the suitcase, then grabbed her hand, and we Disapparated into darkness.

* * *

The next morning, I walked into the Great Hall with my friends to find Lily, already seated, eating and chatting with her friends. She was laughing, and she was happy. She caught me looking, and I quickly focused my attention on finding an available seat.

The four of us sat down, and Sirius was helping himself to a huge plate of pancakes. Peter was fumbling with the orange juice, and Remus was reaching for the syrup. I caught him casting a glance at me, and I knew immediately he wanted to talk to me, but wasn't sure when exactly.

I turned from him and picked up my fork. In one quick, fluid moment, I stabbed two of Sirius's pancakes with the fork, and bit into them. Sirius shot me a horrified look.

"Those are my pancakes, Prongs! Mine!"

"You've got plenty already, mate," I replied, mouth stuffed with pancakes, and I gestured to Sirius's 8-inch stack.

"I'm hungry! And you took my pancakes!"

I stopped eating for a moment, and watched Sirius. We stared at each other for a moment, trying to read each other's expression. Finally, I took another meaningful bite into the food, and ate it deliberately slowly.

Sirius got all worked up, "You, sir—"

Remus interrupted. "Prongs, last night—"

"Hey, look, owls!" Peter exclaimed.

Suddenly, a letter fell next to my plate. I barely tossed it a glance; my parents sent letters to me all the time, and I always read them later, but Sirius glanced over his shoulder at it.

"Blimey, why'd Dumbledore write you?"

"What?" I asked, and glanced down at the letter. Sure enough, it was Dumbledore's. I picked it up and opened it, not even noticing Sirius stealing his pancakes back under my nose.

Inside, the letter read, _Come to my office immediately_.

I hesistated, then stood up. "I've got to go."

Remus looked disappointed, not having been able to tell me whatever it was he wanted to say. I walked away, and quickly arrived in front of the gargoyle. I checked an enchanted list of potential Dumbledore passwords I'd made a few years ago.(1)

I said the first one, "Treacle tarts" and entered the headmaster's office.

"Sit down," Dumbledore said, and I obliged.

"What's going on, Dumbly?" I asked, confused.

I noticed Dumbledore's amused face at his nickname. then he spoke. "I understand you hexed a Muggle last night."

I stared at him for a moment. "How'd you know?"

"That's irrelevant," said Dumbledore. He sighed, then continued. "I spoke with the Minister of Magic, and he agreed to drop all charges."

"But I didn't even hurt her!"

"That's partially why he agreed to drop the charges. But what you did still is technically illegal. And you're only getting a warning, no trial."

"Why?"

Dumbledore didn't answer for a moment, and I got a little confused. Finally, he said, "Well, that'll be all then. Just make sure you get a better hold on your temper next time."

"I — " I bit my tongue. Then I nodded fervently, and left, feeling enormously confused.

* * *

**So yeah. Ba bam. Feel free to drop a review!**

**1) The concept of the list is that somehow James managed to enchant a piece of paper to be in sync with Dumbledore's current password it may seen far fetched, but I can imagine it being the same sort of enchantment that the Marauders Map has,**


	40. Marauders, Assemble!

**I'm sure many of you are irritated by my short chapters. As a typical rule, see, I aim for 1000 word minimum. But I'm going to try to change that starting from this chapter on. Instead, I'll make my chapters 1,500 word minimum, and if I can get 2000 or even 3000, so be it :D**

**SydrianFan4Ever: Oh, wow, really? That is so weird!**

**Lovewriting12: Haha, yeah, it was meant to be confusing. But this chapter ought to clear it up! (more or less)**

**SparklesJamesLilyHSM13: Aww, thanks for the review! You made ME smile :)**

**Jets Sparrow: Haha, wow, your reviews were so entertaining to read! :D**

**Of course, who knows if I can keep with this commitment.**

**(Stewart: You can't. You suck at commitment.)**

**(Me: I got this far into the story, didn't I?)**

**(Phyllis: She's right, you know.)**

**(Me: PREACH IT SISTER!)**

**(Phyllis: *confused* we're not related)**

**(Me: *mental facepalm*)**

* * *

Sirius's POV:

"Sounds like Ole Dumbly-door's hiding something," I commented, biting into a Chocolate Cauldron. "Alterior motives, and such."

I glanced at Remus. If Remus agreed, it meant I was right. Of course, even if he disagreed, I'd just argue my point.

Luckily, Remus simply nodded his head. "Hexing a muggle is illegal, even if she already knew about magic. It could easily land you a month in Azkaban—" James shuddered here "—and you got off on a _warning_? Not even a detention? And he doesn't even tell you why when you asked? Something's fishy, you can't deny that."

We were in James's room, in the Head dormitories. James had already told us the latest password (Lion Eats Snake), which meant we spent a lot of time in there these days.

The four of us looked at each other. Finally I grinned. "Seems like a Marauder-worthy investigation, eh?"

Remus sighed and rolled his eyes, but reached forward and pulled a piece of parchment out of James's front robe pocket.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. Or at least I think that's what we're doing."(1)

As the Marauder's map came to life, Remus analyzed it. James, Peter, and I, all moved closer, to get a look for ourselves.

"When d'you s'pose we can get going?" asked Peter.

"We'll need a decent alibi," mumbled Remus, not looking up.

"We'll need a _plan_," added James, biting his lip.

I glanced up. "It's obvious, though, innit? We can sneak in Dumbledore's office!"

"Not under the Cloak, though," Remus interjected. "I'm fairly certain Dumbledore knows how to see through those."

"He never caught us, though!" I added, slightly offended at the thought that someone could get past our pranks.

"Because we, as in _I_, have always been _careful_." said Remus, and I groaned. Remus,mas always, was right.

"Well," said James, "if we can't use the Cloak, we'll have to pretend we're supposed to be in his office, for some reason."

"Or sneak in without a Cloak," Remus considered. "After all, Marauders in the Headmaster's office of their own accord? I'd keep an eye on us."

"Spoken like a true prefect," Peter added, laughing softly. "Maybe it'd be better to sneak into McGonagall's office. She always seems to know what's going in the castle, so there's no reason not to go there. And we don't have to worry about a Cloak."(2)

I nodded. "Nice thinking, Wormy. But only two of us can fit into the Cloak."

"Three, if Wormtail tranforms," added James. He thought for a moment. "You three go, I'll hang back here. It'll be too obvious what we're doing if I'm involved. 'Sides, I can use the time alone."

I narrowed my eyes. "This have to do with Evans?"

James opened his mouth to protest, but closed it. He cleared his throat, and said, "I think she's warming up to me again."

I rolled my eyes. "All right, you miss out on the fun."

* * *

The operation went into effect the next day. Peter transformed into a rat, and Remus and I squeezed under the Cloak. The three of us headed for McGonagall's office, which was easily opened with _Alohomora_, and started looking around. We examined letters and documents, to no avail.

Suddenly, McGonagall entered the room, and following behind her was...Mrs. Potter.

Remus and I exchanged glances.

"Any luck?"

"I'm sorry, Dorea, but no updates yet. I understand this must me very awful for you. Please, sit down."

Dorea nodded, and sat down. Her greying hair seemed even duller than usual, and her usual zest was gone. "I've checked with everyone. Mad Eye, Dumbledore, Erikson...none of them know anything."

"I'm sure your husband's safe, Dorea."

Mrs. Potter shook her head. "Three weeks, and still no word from him. I told him he was getting a little too old for all that Auror work..."

"Age has nothing to do with it, you know. Charlus is more than capable—"

"How is James doing? And Sirius?"

"James has been a little out of sorts lately, but he seemed fine this morning. And Sirius is just as zealous as ever."

Mrs. Potter chuckled. "That's good." Then she sighed. "Do you think we ought to tell them?"

"That's not really my decision."

"I just...they deserve to know, of course, both of them, but I'm afraid of their reactions. If I know James, he'll go back and forth between denial and depression, like his father does. And Sirius...he'd just pretend nothing's wrong, and be even more reckless than before. I don't want to put either of them through that until we know for sure whether Charlus is alive or not."

* * *

"So, what's the story?" asked James, collapsed onto a sofa.

Remus, Peter, and I all exchanged looks.

"Couldn't find anything out this time 'round, mate," I said, trying to look as normal as possible.

"Bummer," replied James, gesturing for us to join him in sitting down.

"So," Peter started, accepting the offer. "How'd it go with Lily?"

James shrugged. "I tried to talk to her, right, and then her friends started looking at me like I was the devil. Then Marlene started ranting about 'my nerve' or something, all of a sudden. Gave me a fright, that did."

I plastered a smile on my face. "Always knew that girl was mental."

"What's wrong, Padfoot?" asked James, giving me a concerned face.

I blanched. "Err, nothing, just the mention of my ex-girlfriend, you know?"

"You hung up on herthen?"

I scoffed. "Course not."

"Look, we'd better get some sleep." said Remus. "We've got that prefect's meeting, remember? You organized it. Not to mention that Charms test."

"Bloody hell, that's tomorrow?" Peter exclaimed, and Remus nodded.

"Well, g'night then," James mumbled, and the three of us left.

"What d'you reckon?" asked Remus. "Should we tell him? Pads?"

"I..." Now that I didn't have to speak for James's sake, I found my words lodged in my throat.

Charlus and Dorea Potter were the ones who had taken me in, given me a home when my own family dicarded me. I considered them family, my surrogate family. And now he was missing...

"You okay there, mate?" Remus asked. "Giant black dog got your tongue?"

I shook my head abruptly. I then found my voice. "Don't tell Prongs. It's just like Dorea said, he'll go in and out of denial and depression. He shouldn't have to go through that, not if it turns out Charlus is alive."

Remus nodded. "All right."

Peter spoke up. "You suppose that's why Dumbledore let him off on a warning? Cause they felt sorry for him?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah, that or maybe they just thought Dorea couldn't bear her son being carted off to Azkaban ==on top== of her husband's disappearance."

I was about to laugh, but a stunned voice interrupted me.

"James's dad is missing?"

We spun around, and saw Lily walking out of her room.

I cursed. "I forgot there was someone else in this bloody dorm."

"Yeah, and you'd do well not to forget that," she said. "But what was that about James's dad?"

I was planning a retort on how it wasn't any of her concern, but Remus spoke before I had the chance. "Yeah, you know how I told you he was an Auror? Well, he went missing on a mission a few weeks ago, and they haven't heard from him since. Or at least that's what we heard."

"Oh..." she replied, looking distressed. "You're going to tell him?"

"Definitely not!" I responded. "We're not going to put that weight on his shoulders until we know for sure!"

Lily studied my expression, which unnerved me. "Yeah, I s'pose you're right."

"So you're not going to tell?" Remus asked, visibly relieved.

"No." She watched us carefully. Then she turned towards the bathroom. "Goodnight."

* * *

**BABOOSHK! Whataya think?**

**1) Sometimes I wonder why exactly Remus is a Marauder. I mean, I get why he's friends with James and Sirius, but he's a Marauder, aka a prankster (Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business. My point stands.). And although he's definitely the mature one, there's got to be some part of him that likes pranking and being 'bad'. I tried to capture a little of that essence in this chapter.**

**2) The funny thing is that originally, I DID intend for them to sneak into Dumbledore's office, but as I wrote this, I came to the same conclusions the boys came to. Their lines of thought are mine exactly. Ha ha.**


	41. The Day I Failed At Quidditch

**Wassup, my people? Today in class I wrote the dumbest little story ever. It was like eight sentences long and half of them were "And then he/she/they died." And then I wrote a sequel. Be grateful I put more effort into this story than I did there XD**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter. But if I suddenly do, you'll be the first to know!**

* * *

James's POV:

The next day was...interesting. I had the distinct feeling everybody was trying to be extra nice to me. For example, in the morning.

"Blimey, I'm starving!" I yawned. "Wonder what's for breakfast?"

"Want me to run down and find out?" Sirius asked, suddenly getting up. "Or better yet, we can head straight to the kitchens, the hou—"

"No...that's all right..." I said slowly, eying Sirius. "But you're acting strange."

"Am I? Ha! Ha. Ha..." His voice died down to nervous laughter. I felt like slapping him.

"C'mon," Remus said.

Then, later, in Potions, while Sirius and I were trying to figure out how to stir up Draught of the Living Death, Lily came over to us, with a big smile on her face, and started explaining how the separate ingredients affected the potion, and she also gave a few extra tips. For the first time in my life, a potion actually _made sense_ to me.

During lunch, Lily left her friends and came over us. She asked how I was, how I was feeling, if I was comfortable, that sort of thing. Whenever I answered, she smiled and said, "That's good." Then she left, and I'd feel awkward and confused.

During our free period, when we were hanging about my room, Remus asked me if I wanted anything — treacle tart, pudding, chocolate cauldron — and when I refused, he went and got some anyways.

The next day was no different. Sirius would offer assistance when I even hinted I was uncomfortable in any way. Lily would check up on me and help me out during Potions. Remus would offer unnecessary food and assistance.

Don't get me wrong, it was nice having the extra attention, but I knew something was up.

The third day, I gave my friends the slip as we were leaving Charms. We had a free period next, and I quickly headed over to the lake. I also made certain to bring the Invisibility Cloak and Map, so they wouldn't find me.

While I was out there, I noticed Lily sitting by a tree, alone, doing her homework. I watched her for a moment, then took the Cloak off.

She noticed me almost immediately. "James! When'd you get here? How are y—"

"Lily Evans, don't you dare ask me 'How are you'."

She opened her mouth the protest, but closed it. "Fine."

"Listen, Lily, why've you been so nice to me all of a sudden?" I accused.

"I—"

"I mean, I know you said you'd stop ignoring me, but you're acting too strange. Same with Sirius and Remus! What's that all about?"

Lily again tried to speak, but I was on a roll. "You ask me how I'm doing every other minute, it seems, and you're always smiling and telling me what to do. It's like you're trying to take care of me or something, but guess what? _I don't need to be taken care of_! I mean, if anyone should be taking care of someone, it should be _me_ taking care of _you_! Not the other way round! Your parents just died, and yet you act like I'm the one who's in need of comfo—"

"Maybe you do, and you just don't know it yet!" she fired back angrily. Then she froze, and her eyes opened wide, as if she had said something wrong. We stared at each other for a moment, and she dropped her eyes and mumbled, "Never mind."

I kept watching her, though. "Wait, what do you mean?"

"Nothing, forget I said—"

"_Lily_!"

"I don't think I should tell you!"

"So you do know something I don't?"

"Well, yeah, but don't ask what!"

"Why not? It obviously has something to do with me, so I think I ought to know!"

"Well you thought wrong!"

"What in bloody hell is _wrong_ with you, Lily?"

"Your dad's missing in action! Get it? Happy now?" She glared at me, red in the face.

I stared at her for a few moment. Suddenly, her red face simmered down and her expression was that of guilt.

"_What_?" I asked, my voice coming out strangled.

She watched me, looking desperately apologetic. "Listen, James, I'm so so sorry, Sirius and Remus told me not to tell you, they said you'd—"

"They knew?"

She looked down. "Yeah, they did. I'm really so—"

I marched away to find my friends.

Behind me, I heard Lily call, "Wait! James!" but I didn't stop or turn around. I ducked behind a tree and threw my Invisibility Cloak over me. Then I marched into the Head's dorm.

Once I entered the room, my friends looked up at me. Or, they tried to.

"Hey, Prongs, that you under the Cloak?" Peter asked.

I took it off, and my three friends stared at me.

Remus grinned. "Where've you been, we must've searched the who—"

"My dad's missing."

None of them spoke for a while. Then Remus whispered, "How'd you find out?"

I glared at them. "Not from you three. Why didn't you tell me?"

I watched as they took turns opening and closing their mouths. If I hadn't been so angry at them, I might have laughed and teased them for looking like fish.

Sirius cleared his throat. "We...err...didn't tell you because we don't know for sure if he's dead or alive, and we didn't want to worry you."

"So you thought it'd be better just to keep this from me?"

"Ignorance _is_ blis—"

"When'd he go missing?"

The three of them exchanged looks. Remus spoke. "We're not sure, we overheard McGonagall and your mum talking about it last night. Your mum didn't want you to know either."

"I —" I was at a loss for words.

Sirius looked at me. "Listen, if I'd had the choice, I'd've chosen not to know."

I glared at him. "First of all, don't lie, you would've wanted to be the first to know. Secondly, that entire point is irrelevant! It's not your father who's gone missing, it's mine!"

"But he might as well be!" Sirius shouted, his voice rising to match mine. "My father doesn't give a fuck(1) about me! And frankly, the feeling's mutual! The only person who's ever acted like a bleeding father to me is yours! You think I don't care that he's missing?"

I held my hand out. "It doesn't matter how much you care, you still didn't tell me!"

"Prongs—" Peter tried, but I stormed out of the room, marching outside. To my surprise, it was getting dark.

I marched over to the Quidditch pitch, where I hoped I'd be able to clear my mind. I snatched a random broom and a bag of Quaffles.

I flew up to the air and stared at the goal, before aiming the Quaffle at it.

I missed.

My eyes narrowed, and I swooped down to pick up another ball. I flew a little closer to the goal, and tried again.

I missed again.

I groaned in frustration, and repeated until the bag of Quaffles was empty. I missed every single goal. Angrily, I picked up the Quaffles and tried again. Once again, I failed.

I didn't understand. I was a brilliant Chaser, and here I was missing goals, even though there wasn't even a Keeper! I was getting more and more frustrated by the minute.

I reached down into the bag and picked another Quaffle, and studied it. What was I doing wrong?

Maybe it was my head. Maybe I hadn't cleared my mind enough.

I flew, higher and higher, until I was perfectly level with the tallest hoop. I closed my eyes, and breathed in and out. I then opened my eyes and watched the hoop, focusing on it and only it. Then I took a deep breath, and aimed.

The ball went soaring through the middle of the hoop.

Suddenly, I heard clapping coming from the direction of the bleachers. Confused, I swung my broom around and saw a familiar face, framed with long red hair. The face was wearing a smile.

I grinned, all frustration leaving me, and I flew down, right in front of her.

"Hey," I said, watching her closely.

"Hey," she replied, her voice soft. "Why don't you sit down?"

I grinned, and responded. "Already am," I said, gesturing to the broom.

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I meant."

"Yeah, I did," I responded, staring into her emerald green eyes.

"I'm sorry 'bout earlier," we both said in unison. Then I grinned, and she giggled

"Why are you sorry?" I asked her, confused.

She shrugged. "I shouldn't have told you about your father like that."

I smiled. "Well, I shouln't have yelled at you. So we're even."

I watched as a sad smile crept on her lips. "No," she said, her voice softer than ever. "We're not even, not exactly."

I studied her. "Lily Evans, do you have any idea how bloody confusing you are?"

Her smile grew a little, and she replied, "If it's any consolation, I confuse myself loads of times." I chuckled at that, and she continued. "But here, let me make it a little simpler."

And she reached forward and kissed me.

Immediately I leaned forward into the kiss, and pulled her face closer to mine. I stepped off my broomkonto the bleachers, to get better balance, but carefully, never breaking the kiss. She stood up, and once I was certain she wasn't going to pull her head away again, I removed my hands from her head, and wrapped my arms around her waist. She responded by wrapping her own arms around my neck, and she ran one of her hands thriugh my hair. My heart was pounding intensely.

After what could've been years, we finally tore apart for air, but our foreheads stayed connected. Her lips, which were parted slightly, curved into a smile.

"There you go," she whispered. "Things simpler now?"

I nodded, not tearing my eyes from her. Then a smile played onto my own lips.

"So you do like me," I stated, and she giggled.

"Yeah. I've actually liked you for quite some time while now."

I looked at her, astonished. "Then why didn't you say anything?"

She shrugged, the smile not leaving her face. "S'like you said. It's been confusing."

"Oh, excuse me, ma'am(2), I said," chuckling. "I believe I said _you_ were confusing, not _it_."

She grinned. "Well, not anymore."

And we leaned in for another kiss.

* * *

**THERE. ARE YOU ALL HAPPY NOW? THEY'RE FINALLY TOGETHER! Lol.**

**Well, now that they've both revealed their feelings, things are going to be easy, right?**

**Right?**

**Ha. You should know me better than that. Things are gonna explode next chapter, and not for the better.**

**Just a fair warning.**

***Maniacal laughter***

**Well, at any rate, REVIEW!**

**1) In defense of my language, the rating _is_ T...**

**2) I have some pet peeves with some fanfictions. Like when it says mam instead of ma'am or effect instead of affect or defiantly instead of definitely. So you'll never see me writing "excuse me, mam" or "yes mam". Just sayin'.**


	42. And Then They Stormed Off

**heyyyyy everyone!**

**Stewart: Nobody cares.**

**Phyllis: I like walnuts!**

**Me: Duh, who doesn't?**

**Stewart: Me**

**SydrianFan4Ever: Uh oh, am that predictable? Lol**

**DISCLAIMER: It's sad but true, I don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

Lily's POV:

The following week was...interesting, to say the least. According to Remus, James had "bounded" into the Gryffindor common room, and woken Sirius from his "much-needed beauty sleep". James and I both got to suffer the consequences the next morning, when Sirius chose to interrupt breakfast with "Sirius Black's Amazing Morning Announcements".

"Attention! Ladies and gents — and Slytherins — I'd like to announce that your Head Girl, Lily Evans" here, he gestured towards me, "has officially lost her mind!"

All of the students, except for the irritated Slytherins, and all of the teachers, except for the tight-lipped McGonagall, watched, evidently amused. I grabbed the latest issue of _The Daily Prophe_t and hid my face in it. I was _not_ looking forward to what I knew was coming next.

"You see, my good people — and Slytherins — dear ole Lilykins here has given in to...two years, is it?"

"Three years," Peter's voice said, and I would've glared at him if I wasn't too busy trying to stealthily sneak under the table.

"Three years, thanks, Wormy. Well, as I was saying, your sweet Head Girl has given in to three years of stubbornimity—"

I wanted to correct Sirius, and remind him stubbornimity wasn't a real word, but instead, I focused on silently wishing Dumbledore would remove the anti-Apparation charms from the Great Hall. Then, I could go somewhere less humiliating, like the bottom of the ocean.

"That's right, Lily Evans and my best mate, James Potter, are going out!"

With that, he pulled out his wand, and everyone's spoons sprouted arms and legs. Then the spoons stood up, and started singing harmonies of "James and Lily, Sitting In A Tree".

For the next hour, I refused to look at anybody, especially Marlene, or reply to anybody.

I ended up sitting alone by the lake. My friends didn't really see me as an outdoorsy person, so it was unlikely they'd run into me here. But James would probably know better, and find me here.

Unfortunately, I had forgotton, there was one other guy who knew me really well.

"Lily."

I turned around and found myself face-to-face with none other than Severus Snape.

"Snape," I said, making my voice as cold as possible.

I wanted to turn around and storm off, but Severus seemed to know this already, and he put his hand on my shoulder. I shook his arm off, but I stayed where I was.

"What?" I snapped, although I already knew what he was planning on saying.

"Why him?" he asked, staring into my eyes.

I regarded him coldly. "Why not him?"

He looked at me, eyes contorting slightly. "Why not? _Why not?_ I can give you a hundred reasons why not! You've hated him for years-"

"He changed, all right?" I insisted, crossing my arms.

Severus just looked at me, as incredulous as could be. "No, he hasn't! He's the same arrogant toerag he's always been! He doesn't deserve you! You deserve better, don't you see?"

I glared at him, and suddenly I remembered what he'd said on the train on the first day of school last year. And then I understood what he was trying to say.

"What?" I replied smoothly, cooly. "And you think you're better or something?"

"I am!" he insisted, ignoring my scoff. "He's just a jerk, and he's tricked you into thinking he's any different!"

I glared at him. "And what are you? You've already made your loyalties very clear! It's obvious you're just going to go off workng for — for —" I remembered James's words from a few nights. There was no reason to be afraid of the name. " — for Vol — Voldemort. If you think that somehow makes you a better person, then you really need to get your head che —"

And his lips were on mine.

My eyes grew wide, and I came to senses. I tried to push him off, but he was stronger than he looked, and had a hard grip. I still struggled against him, though. Didn't the idiot understand a word I had just said?

Suddenly, Severus flew away from me, and went flying into the air, upside-down, and I immediately recognized the Levicorpus Jinx.

I spun my head, trying to find whoever had helped me. And then I saw him.

James Potter.

And he looked furious.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to smile and greet him, but James suddenly reacted.

"I can't believe you just kissed him!" he shouted, glaring at me with all his might.

My eyes grew wide and I shook my head, "No, James, you don't und—"

"Don't tell me I don't understand! I know exactly what I saw, all right? How could you kiss him? I thought you liked me! Oh, but I guess you were lying, weren't you?"

"No, you got i—"

"Lily, he's a Slytherin! Don't you understand what being a Slytherin means these days? He's going to become a Death Eater, don't you know that? Or are you just attracted to sick and evil?"

"Ja—"

"I thought we had something! But it all was a huge bluff, wasn't it? I bet you just wanted to play 'Let's-Mess-With-James's-Head-He-Won't-Mind'! Well you know what, I don't appreciate it! I don't!"

And he marched off.

I immediately set to follow him.

"James!" I cried, trying to catch up with him. But he was fast. "James!"

Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm, and I saw another furious face.

Marlene.

"Is it true?" she asked me, voice hushed to a deathly whisper. "Are you and...him...really going out?"

I looked into her eyes. I couldn't lie to her, not to my best friend.

"Sorry, Marlene," I muttered. "I just...like him."

She glared at me. "But — but — you know what he's like! He's James Potter! You hate him! And he's a Marauder! We can't trust them! You know what Sirius did! He's just gonna do the same to you!"

I looked down, and said gently, "James is _not_ Sirius."

"YES HE IS!" shrieked Marlene, and I stumbled back at the force in her words. "THEY'RE ALL THE SAME! LYING, CHEATING, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING TRAITORS! AND YOU TRUSTED THEM! HOW COULD YOU?! WE AGREED NOT TO TALK TO ANY OF THEM! AND YOU'RE DATING ONE OF THOSE BASTARDS? I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!"

I stared at her in shock. I knew she'd be upset, but I had no idea she'd react like this. I realized with a jolt that Sirius's cheating on her must've hurt her more than she let on.

I took a breath, and talked softly, hoping to appease her. "We _are_ friends, Marlene. Best friends, remember?"

"BEST FRIENDS DON'T BETRAY BEST FRIENDS LIKE THAT!"

"I didn't betray you!"

She stared at me, fury taking control of her face. "Yes, you did! You promised not to associate with them!"

"Marl—"

With a sudden swipe of her hand, Marlene tore the friendship bracelet we had made in second year—

And tossed it into the lake.

"Marlene!"

But she, too, stormed off.

Just like James.

And I tried to chase after her.

Just like with James.

But then another person grabbed me.

I spun around.

Sirius.

Immediately, I knew what he was here about. "Listen, Sirius, I can ex—"

"Where do you come off playing with my best mate like that?" His voice was beyond angry. It was beyond furious. It was downright terrifying. I was too scared to even try to defend myself.

"Do you have any idea what you've done? James has been in bleeding love with you for years, and you just decide to mess 'round with his head like that? His father's missing, don't you understand? Don't you care? He's already hurt and upset and scared and then he thinks it's all right because the bloody girl he's been pining after for ages finally comes through and gives him the chance he's deserved from the start! And it all turns out to have just been a lie? A game? A hoax? You're pathetic, y'know that? Pathetic!"

He aimed his wand at me, and I came to my senses just long enough to whip out myown wand and shout, _Protego_! A shield surrounded me, and whatever jinx, hex, or curse Sirius had been aiming at me was deflected.

"Please," I begged. First Severus, then James, then Marlene, and now Sirius. Everyone was judging me, criticizing me, hating me, and none of them bothered to hear me out.

"Please, Sirius, listen. I didn—"

"You disgust me," he spat, giving me a cold look I recognized as the same one he usually reserved for Slytherins.

And once again, nobody dared to listen, and Sirius marched away.

I collapsed on the ground, tired, angry, and miserable. How had this happened? And last night, I had been so happy...everything had been so perfect...

And I started crying. I didn't know what to do except let the tears flow out, sobs racking through me. I tried to stop crying like a baby, but I couldn't.

After what felt like ages, the tears ceased to flow. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and tried to steady my shaky breath.

My eyes found their way to the lake, and my mind found its way to Marlene.

Maybe...just maybe...I could swim down into that lake and retrieve the bracelet. Somehow, I felt like doing so would somehow let me fix things with Marlene. And then I could go talk to James, and explain myself.

I could fix this.

And it all started with that bracelet.

I stood over to the edge of the lake and peered in, trying to see if I could see the bracelet. Suddenly, I spotted it. It wasn't too deep in. It would only take a minute for me to jump in and retrieve it.

I took a deep breath, and plunged.

I knew something was wrong immediately. Maybe it was the general atmosphere. But somehow I knew I wasn't alone in the lake.

Suddenly, I felt something big and slimy wrap around my torso. I closed my eyes, too scared to open them. What would I see? The Giant Squid?

But then whatever was holding me started dragging me down, and I gasped in shock. My suddenly open mouth let a lot of cold water inside, and I choked and sputtered on the water. My arms flailed, searching for air. But I was just getting dragged deeper and deeper, and everything got darker and darker.

_Well, this is a bloody fantastic way to die_, I thought.

Suddenly, I felt something warmer grab me, and the slippery tentacle let go. The world started to get a little brighter, and I passed out.

* * *

**Ah, I love wreaking a little drama. Plus, I wrote half of this on my phone on the hour and a half bus ride from school.**

**K, well, feel free to review!**


	43. The Dignified Mr Potter and Mr Black

**Well, let's cut to the chase.**

**TIME FOR CHAPTER FORTY-THREE OF LEARNING TO LOVE HIM! =D**

**I'm not going to respond to each of your reviews, cuz there were a lot, but let me say: I never had so much fun reading reviews. Like really. I'm pretty sure that half of you people hate me right now XD But on the bright side, the cliffhanger's resolved in this chapter! (mostly)**

**Disclaimer: Don't remind me. *sad face* I still don't own any rights.**

* * *

Lily's POV:

I opened my eyes. Everything was bright and white. I squinted.

"Gah...too..bright..." I mumbled.

I heard a familiar chuckling next to me. "It's always this bright, y'know."

My eyes popped wide open and found their way to a familiar face.

"James," I mumbled. "What're you doing here?"

He chuckled again. "You know, Evans, I was kind of hoping the first thing you'd say to me would be more like _Thank you for saving my life_, or something." He sighed dramatically, and a giggle escaped me. "Ah, but I suppose that's just wishful thinking."

I looked at him. "That was you?"

He nodded. "Course it was me. Who else?"

I shrugged, tearing my eyes away from him and staring down. "I thought you hated me."

He didn't say anything for a moment, and when I looked up, I saw he was shaking his head. "Nah, I couldn't hate you. Angry at you, yes. Curse the day you were born, yes. But hate you? No."

I watched him carefully, not sure what to say. "Well...thanks."

"For..." he said, in a teasing manner.

I slapped him gently on the arm, laughing. "Thank you, oh great one, for saving my meager, insignificant life. Happy now?"

He laughed. "Very." Then he froze, and I started to feel uncomfortable. "Why'd you jump in that lake anyway?"

I lay there for a moment, not speaking. Then I said, "You're going to think I'm stupid." He didn't say anything, so I sighed and continued. "After you, err, stormed off, Marlene found out we were going out, 'cause of Sirius's morning announcement, see, and she started yelling me, calling me a traitor and stuff. Then she threw her friendship bracelet in the lake. I thought if I went and got it, she'd forgive me."

He looked at me, and I saw confusion and curiosity and surprise flickering all throughout his face. I got the feeling he was choosing what to ask. Finally, he said, "Forgive you for what?"

I really wanted to lie, for some reason, but I figured James deserved the truth. "For going out with you."

He looked at me curiously. "What's so bad about that?"

"She...remember last summer, when she walked in on Sirius snogging another girl? After that, she made me and Alice and Mary promise not to talk to any of you. That's why I didn't send you any owls or anything. And why I ignored you. Sorry 'bout that, by the way."

He studied me, and I noticed comprehension dawning on his face. But then, he looked a little upset. "That why you kissed Snape?"

I shook my head violently. "No, no, you got it wrong. I never kissed him."

His face turned stony. "Don't lie to me, I know what I saw."

Again, I shook my head. "What you saw was him kissing me."

"Same difference! You kissed him back!"

Yet again, I had to shake my head. "No, I wasn't."

"Your hands were all over him!"

"Yeah, 'cause I was trying to push him off! That little git's stronger than he looks."

He watched me, understanding crossing his face. "So, you weren—"

"James, I'd never cheat on you, especially not on the first day."

He nodded. "Okay, I believe you(1). Sorry for not listening earlier." Suddenly, a look of horror crossed his face. "And I let Sirius go after you! Blimey! Sorry 'bout that!"

I giggled. "No worries, I haven't suffered any lasting damage. I _do_ know how to cast a shield charm, after all."

He smiled, and, hesitantly, reached his hand forwards and trailed it through my hair. Then he froze, yet again. Then he snickered. "Lily..."

"What?" I asked, cautiously.

"Why didn't you just use a summoning charm to get the bracelet out of the lake?"

"I — it — but — _oh_."

He continued to snicker, and I giggled. Soon we were both laughing loudly.

Then he smiled down at me. "So, friendship bracelets?"

I nodded, feeling much better. "First day of second year, Mary got this great idea, and we all had friendship bracelets. We even magicked a charm to resemble whatever animal matches us most." I held out my left wrist, and he held it gingerly, peering down. "See,

I'm a doe."

"A doe?" he asked, looking surprised.

I nodded. "Yeah. It's pretty, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Blimey, a doe."

"Why?" I asked, confused. "Why's it so surprising?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I'll tell you some other time."

I watched him curiously, but let it drop. Then he leaned down and kissed me.

A few days later, I realized why the doe was so significant. I remembered something Remus had once told me on prefects' duty.

James was an Animagus.

James was a stag.

And I was a doe.

Blimey.

* * *

James's POV:

The number of times I've had to run into a room yelling, "OI! PADFOOT!" is remarkably high. And yet, that was exactly what I found myself doing.

I marched into the Head's common room, yelling "OI! PADFOOT!"

Sirius, who was lazying about on the couch, popped up at the sound of his nickname. "Prongs! Where've you been? Want me to hex Evans for you?"

I shook my head quickly, and started jumping up and down. "No! But guess what, guess what, guess what?"

My excitement must have radiated off me, because Sirius began junping up and down with me. "What, what, what?"

"Wait," I said, holding out my hand and standing still. "First, we should stop bouncing sround like little kids."

Sirius nodded, and agreed. "Yes, of course. We do not bounce. We are men."

"Dignified."

"Posh."

"Mature."

"Sexy."

"Padfoot!"

"Prongs!"

"Peanut butter."

"Jelly."

We laughed, and I finally said, "So guess what? Lily and I are going out again!"

He looked at me, bewildered, all enthusiasm gone. "Wait, you're going out again? Even after sh—"

"No, I got it all wrong! The bugger kissed her, she was just trying to push him off!"

Sirius's eyes widened. "And I was going to use an itching hex on her!"

I chuckled. "That's low, mate."

* * *

Lily's POV:

The next day, Madame Pomfrey let me out of the hospital wing. James, who had stayed with me that entire morning, insisted we take a walk around the grounds.

When I agreed, he stared at me for a few moments.

"What?" I asked him.

He shook his head, smiling. "Nothing. Just can't believe that the Lily Evans agreed to go out with me."

I laughed. "I can't believe it either. I suppose I've gone mad." I grinned here. "But I can't say I really mind."

He smiled, his grin mirroring mine. "Well, I don't mind, either." He held out his hand, and I took it. The two of us headed all around the extensive ground that made up Hogwarts.

We reached the lake soon enough, and he pointed at it. I looked at him, confused.

"Marlene's bracelet's still in there, isn't it? You still wanna get it?"

I nodded. "Right." I reached into my cloak and pulled out my wand. "_Accio bracelet_!"

It took a few moments, but suddenly the familiar charm bracelet plopped out of the water and came whizzing into my outstretched hand.

"Got it," I said, and James started clapping.

"And there you have it, ladies and gents, Lily Evans has just performed a perfect summoning charm!"

I bumped into him with my side, grinning, and he promptly bumped me back. We then started a sort of bumping contest, and there we were, bumping and nudging each other next to the lake.

After a while, I heard some voices, and the two of us glanced up and saw three pairs of feet.

James groaned, and stood up. He then marched over to where the six feet were. The feet quickly squealed, and started running away. But James caught up to them, and reached for what seemed like just air. But then, suddenly, he was holding a long silvery cloak, and the owners of the feet (Sirius, Remus, and Peter) appeared.

"Oi! What're you thinking, spying on us?" James asked, in a mildly accusatory tone.

Sirius opened his mouth to speak, but Remus covered it with his hand. "We weren't spying on the two of you, exactly," he said, glancing over in my direction.

"Then what, do tell, were you doing under there?" asked James.

"Not pulling a prank on you, that's for sure!" Peter squeaked, and Remus and Sirius groaned. Peter facepalmed.

James turned to me. "Mind if I take a minute or two, so I can give these wankers a piece of my mind?"

I laughed. "Course not, go right ahead."

He grinned, then slyly turned to the three Marauders, and next thing you know, they were chasing each other around.

I just sat there, watching, laughing. This was what friendship was supposed to be. Not making unfair promises, not pressuring to act a certain way.

But I still felt a bit upset. Marlene was still my best friend.

Suddenly, as if someone had been reading my mind, Marlene came walking out with Mary. I stood up, to talk to her. But as I started walking towards her, the two noticed me, and made a 180 degree turn away. I hastened my speed to go catch up.

But they were way ahead of me.

Neither of them spoke to me after that.

Not the next day,

Not the next week,

Not the next month.

But now I had James. And the Marauders.

* * *

**HEYYYYYYAAAA**

**1) I feel like he forgave her a little easily. But then again, she made sense, and he was desperate for an excuse to fogive her anyways.**

**K, so, what'd y'all think 'bout my story?**

**Remember to review! :D**


	44. The Elusive Eleven

**And we're back!**

**Stewart: I'm learning how to make waffles.**

**Me: Why? Make pancakes, they're better!**

**Stewart: Nuh uh!**

**Me: Yeah huh!**

**Stewart: Nuh uh!**

**Me: Yeah huh!**

**Phyllis: You guys realize they're make of the same ingredients, right?**

**Me and Stewart: IT'S A TEXTURE THING!**

**Post your opinion in a review: Pancakes or Waffles?**

**Disclaimer: I own this plot but not the characters and setting.**

* * *

Lily's POV:

The next few months were some of the best of my life.

It was weird, considering the recent deaths of my parents, and the disappearence of James's dad, but instead of being sad like normal people, we found a way of making each other happy.

I knew _I_ was happy.

Granted, I got dirty looks from nearly every other witch at school every time I walked into the Great Hall with James. But it never bothered me, because James's arm would be wrapped firmly around my waist, and I'd usually be laughing at something the Marauders said or did.

And then, of course, there was the fact that two of my three best friends seemed to hate me. Alice, thankfully, still talked to me, but our friendship was a little strained now that our little group was divided.

But all in all, I was happy. Happy with James, happy with the Marauders, happy with school...heck, I was even haooy with the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests.

Those months blew by fast, and soon I found winter break approaching.

"Lils, come to my house this holiday."

I tensed. I knew why he offered, of course. James knew I had no home as of right now, ever since Petunia kicked me out. Of course, there was always the option of my staying back at Hogwarts, but seeing as everyone who was friendly with me was going home for the holidays, it appeared that it would've been a very lonely Christmas.

But still...

"I dunno, James."

"Why not?"

"Well...I've never been to your house before, and besides, how would that look, me spending all holiday at my boyfriend's house..."

"Come on, Lily. We live together all the rest of the year anyway!"

"But...that's in separate rooms."

"Lils, my house has eleven bedrooms. I think we'll be fine."

I nearly choked on the piece of turkey I was eating. James thumped my back, and I smiled st him gratefully. Then I asked it. "Eleven bedrooms? Your house is huge!"

He shrugged. "Well, it _is_ a mansion."

"Me? In a mansion?"

He tilted his head. "Come on, you'll love it there. It's beautiful, like you—"

"Cliché, much?"

"—and there's a lot of room, and my paren — my mum — will love you, and besides, we're going to be hosting a Holiday Party! There's going to be wizards pouring in from all over, oh, Lils, you'd love it, I know you would."

"I dunno..."

"Would you rather stay at Hogwarts, isolated from your beloved boyfriend, all alone with nobody to talk to?"

"The house-elves are friendly."

"We have elves, y'know."

"I'm not sure..."

"Please?" He looked at me, his hazel eyes wide and pleading behind his lopsided glasses. Damn that boy for being so cute.

I sighed. "All right. But only because you'd be lost without me."

His face cracked into a grin. "You're right about that. Oi, Moony, are you going to eat that?"

* * *

"Goodness, you must be Lily!"

James, Sirius, and I had just entered Potter Mansion. Everything was overwhelming; there was an extensive garden with a long, winding pathway that led for the house. When you entered the house, everything was big. There were curved staircases on either end of the living room, and long hallways that led to what I assumed to be the fabled eleven bedrooms. After pushing through large, 20-foot mahogany doors, we found our way into he kitchen, with polished marble counters and flying spatulas.

I was overwhelmed by the sheer vastness and eccentricity of the place, but James and Sirius seemed perfectly accustomed to it. Of course, they lived here, so I should've expected as much.

The boys each sat on the kitchen counters, and a short house-elf gave them cookies. James patted the counter next to him, looking at me, and I was moving over there to sit next to him, when Dorea Potter came rushing in and spotting me.

I turned around to face her. She was getting close to old age, which surprised me, but I didn't day anything. There was a wide smile on her face as she greeted me.

"Yeah, I'm Lily."

Her smile grew, and I recognized it to match James's exactly. She instantly hugged me, and said, like a typical mother, "James has told me all about you!" She then lowered her voice to a loose imitation of James's and said, "_Oh, you should see her, mum, she's so beautiful, and she's also really funny, and when she—"_

"Okay, Mum, you've made your point," James interrupted, jumping off the counter and headed for the both of us. Dorea smiled at me again and mouthed, _We'll finish this later_, before turning to James and hugging him, nice and tight.

I remembered when my own mum hugged me like that.

"Oh, James, it's so great to see you! You've gotten so tall! Stop growing up, you hear me?" Here, she glanced over his shoulder and looked at Sirius, who had cookie crumbs covering his mouth. "Oh, and Sirius, great to see you again! Merlin's beard, you're even taller than James is!"

Sirius grinned. "I've always been taller than him, Mrs. P."

After Dorea had finished with the welcoming, the greeting, and the hugging, James and Sirius grabbed my arms and started dragging me up the staircase.

"Ow! Ouch! Stop pulling me so hard!"

Both of them grinned back at me, but neither bothered to let go. It struck me how much they acted like brothers.

Finally, we reached the hallway, and they let go. I rubbed my sore wrists, shooting dirty looks at my boyfriend and his best friend.

"Now, Lily-billy," said Sirius, turning around. "It's time for your VIP tour through the elusive estate that is the Potter Mansion."

I raised my eyebrows. "Do you even know what elusive means?"(1)

Sirius scoffed, and the boys marched over to the first door.

"This, mademoiselle," James told me, reaching for the shimmery doorknob, "is the master bedroom." He opened the door, and bowed, reminding me of a butler. He and Sirius gestured towards the open door, and I laughed gently and peered inside. The room, I noticed, was very large and just as luxurious as the rest of the house.

Abruptly, Sirius slammed the door shut. We headed down to the next door. When we opened it, Sirius said, "This is my room." He then waggled his eyebrows. "You'll be seeing a lot of this room, milady." I watched as James smacked Sirius's arm, and Sirius just barked out a laugh. But as he closed the door, and we headed for the next room, Sirius winked at me. I simply rolled my eyes.

"Now, this room here, Lils, is my room." said James. Then he pointed to the room across the hall. "And if I'm right, you'll be staying in that room."

Sirius snickered.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing, nothing, I'm just surprised that your mum, Prongs, is letting the two of you stay across the hall from each other." He waggled his eyebrows again. "She must really trust you two innocents."

"All right, Padfoot, that's it, go to your room!" James started pushing a laughing Sirius away, but I noticed a faint blush across James's face.

After shutting Sirius in his room, James walked back over to me, "Sorry 'bout Sirius, he can be..."

I laughed. "Don't worry, I get it."

He grinned at me, and wrapped his left arm around my waist. "Shall we let you unpack now, mademoiselle?"

I smiled. "Yes, that sounds great, monsieur."

He led me into my room and I gasped. "This is _way_ bigger than my old room."

He looked at me. "You don't mind, do you?"

I shook my head, "No this is great. Just a little empty."

He nodded in understanding, and shouted, "Glippy!"

Suddenly, the house-elf I had seen earlier appeared in the room.

"Lily, this is Glippy, the coolest house-elf ever."

Glippy smiled up at me, and I smiled back. Then she turned to James. "Master James wanted me?"

James looked at Glippy and said, "Yeah, Glippy, could you get Lily's stuff? I left it by the front door."

"Righteo!" Glippy exclaimed, and popped out of the room.

"I taught her to say that," James commented, looking a bit smug.

I laughed, and sat on the bed. "What, 'righteo'?"

He nodded, sitting next to me. "Oh yeah, I taught her to say all sorts of stuff. If you ask her how her day was, she'll say 'groovy'."

I laughed. "Only you, James." I let myself fall backwards, so I was laying on my back, looking up at the ceiling. James readjusted his position so he was leaning over, looking down in my eyes. He supported his body with his right hand, and his left hand was holding up his glasses on his head.

I pulled on his left hand, taking his glasses off. I folded them and set them on my side, and looked at the face on top of me. His face looked different without those glasses. I stretched both of my hands up, grabbed the back of his head, and pulled it down towards mine—

_Pop!_

"Master James, Glippy got Mistress Lily's luggage!"

Both of us popped up, sitting straight. Both of us stammered a bit, and finally James said. "Right...err...thanks, Glippy."

Glippy shyly carried the luggage over to us, and dropped it at our feet. "And how are you, Master James?"

James and I exchanged looks, and I snickered. "I'm...erm...I'm all right, Glippy, how're you?"

"Groovy," replied the house-elf, before popping away.

I turned to James. "You weren't joking, she really says groovy."

He gave me a mock offended look. "Why, Lily, you should know by now that I never joke."

Then the two of us laughed together. He stood up, stretched, and out on his glasses, glancing down at the luggage.

"Well, Mistress Lily," said James, in a poor imitation of Glippy, "Jamesie lives to serve. Shall we set up your room?"

I grinned at his impression, and nodded. James whipped out his wand, and opened up the trunks. The stuff started flying out, and James looked at me.

"It's your room now, you decide where you want everything to go."

I nodded, and pulled out my own wand. I then started moving objects and decorations, posters and paintings, photos and pencils, boxes and baskets, until the entire room was set up.

I looked at James. "Done!"

"Blimey, Lils, you decorated fast."

"Well, I was top in class at Charms."

"Touché."

* * *

**After all that drama in previous chapters, I figured it was time for a bit of fluffiness and detail.**

**Hope you liked this chapter!**

**1) "Elusive: Tending to elude capture, perception, comprehension, or memory." Not exactly the word to describe James's this is Sirius we're talking about, he probably assumed 'elusive' meant 'big' or 'nice' or 'pretty', and wanted to use a fancy word.**

**REVIEWW! (please)**


	45. The Undying Love Between Lily and Sirius

**Hey, guys! How is everyone?**

**Haha, it's very amusing to get a bunch of emails filled with people's opinions on waffles vs pancakes. But I just can't believe that waffles won.**

**Erisedelm23, haha, I'll keep that restaurant in mind. also, I think I read the fanfic, but a while ago. maybeill read it again if i have the time.**

**Me: Phyllis, why don't you handle the disclaimer?**

**Phyllis: With pleasure. *clears throat* I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Me: Phyllis, you're supposed to say that ****_I_****, the author, don't own Harry Potter. It doesn't matter if you own it or not.**

**Phyllis: *offended* Of course it matters!**

**Me: No, it doesn't, because you're not writing a fanfiction.**

**Phyllis: Fine, fine. The annoying author of this story doesn't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

Lily's POV:

"Alice."

"What?"

"Do you _see_ this?"

"Of course! Lily, you look so hot in it!"

"No, I look like a slag. Completely different thing."

"Oh, come on, James won't be able to keep his eyes off you!"

"Alice."

"What?"

"I AM NOT WEARING THIS BLOODY DRESS TO THE BLOODY PARTY!"

"Language!"

"Alice."

"What?"

"We need to find a better dress."

"Oh, fine. How's this one?"

Alice and I were in Tatiana's Witch Wardrobe, a cute new dress shop in Diagon Alley. There was going to be a huge Holiday Party at the Potter Mansion, and seeing as I was the hostess's son's girlfriend, I was obliged to come.

James had insisted on this dress-hunting trip. "Wear something pretty, okay? It's sort of a formal party, but us being crazy rebellious unconventional teenagers, we can pull off wearing whatever we want."

I had told all this to Alice, who took it upon her to take me shopping immediately. We'd browsed through dozens and dozens of dresses. Some were short, some were long. Some were tight, some had poofy skirts. Some were colorful, others were basic. Some were solid color, some had patters and designs.

The latest dress was a really short, tight black dress that showed off all my curves and had a very, _very_ low neckline.

Luckily, the next dress was less exposing. It was a royal blue, and rather long. There were little jewels all around it, making the dress look sparkly. The shade went rather well with my hair. It was strapless, but the tag claimed it was charmed so it would never slide off...unless you wanted it to.

I shuddered at that.

But in the end, that was the dress I ended up purchasing. It, as Alice exclaimed gleefully, was cute, pretty, matched the formal tone of the party without being too old-fashioned, and it looked pretty good on me.

"James is going to love you in it," Alice said, giggling slightly.

On the night of the party, Alice helped me apply makeup. I insisted on using magic to quickly do it, but Alice, being the girl she is, nearly forced me to allow her apply it manually. After makeup came hair, and after hair, she let me put my dress on.

In the end, I looked...well, I looked...

"Stunning," Alice commented, and I just stared at my reflection. Where had plain, ordinary Head Girl Lily Evans go, and why was this gorgeous girl standing there instead?

"Come on," Alice said, heading for the door. Frank's waiting for me; we've got a date tonight. And from the sounds coming from downstairs, the party's starting.

* * *

James's POV:

"You look like Snivellus's behind after it's been dunked into a pile of dung."

I glared at my so-called best mate. "Well I still look better than you."

Sirius started laughing. "Oh well, in that case, you look extraordinarily dazzling and divine."

"Padfoot," I said. "Shut up."

After some more laughing, Sirius calmed down, and smirked at me.

"What?" I asked, slightly irritated.

"I thought I was supposed to be shutting up, and I can't shut up if I tell you what."

"Well, you're talking right now anyways. What is it?"

He shrugged. "You shouldn't be obsessing over your appearance like this, mate. And yes," he added, noticing that I had opened my mouth to protest, "I know, I know, that makes me a hypocrite, but honestly, mate, you've adjusted that clip-on tie about ten thousand times already, and smoothed out your shirt just as many times. You've attempted to get your hair to lie flat for ages now, and you haven't moved from that awkward spot in front of that mirror in at least an hour. Relax, mate, you look fine. I mean, the way you're obsessing over all this, I'd have thought it was your wedding day."

I laughed nervously. "Right, right, of course..." I cast a shy glance at the mirror. but what if—"

"No buts," interrupted Sirius, looking slightly irritated. "You like fine. And, besides, it's just your parents' party, they have it every year."

"Yeah, but this is the first year I'm going with Lily."

"Oh, Merlin. Don't, oh please don't tell me my best mate is so thick that he's actually afraid that if he doesn't look 100% perfect, his girlfriend is going to dump him."

"Errr..."

"You know that's pathetic, right? Just plain pathetic."

"No it's not!"

"Yeah, it is."

"No, it isn't!

"Whoa, what's all this arguing about?" my mum asked, walking into the room.

"Well," said Sirius, "your son here is an idiot, and he keeps arguing that he isn't. Denial, I call it."

"I'm not saying I'm not an idiot!" I protested loudly. The I mumbled, "I'm just saying I'm not pathetic."

My mum rounded on Sirius. "You called my son pathetic?" For some reason, I had the odd feeling she was more amused than angry.

"He _is_ pathetic," Sirius said, in his best rational voice. "He's been standing in front of that mirror adjusting that bloody tie for over an hour."

My mum nodded in understanding, then turned to me, looking at me with an appraising look. "You look very handsome, James. Now why don't you head downstairs and join the party? Lily's waiting for you, her friend left just a few minutes ago."

I glanced over at Sirius, who gave a forceful look, and I nodded, and dashed out the door.

Once out the door, I headed over to the grand staircase and started walking down, looking for Lily amongst the crowd of people. Suddenly I spotted a familiar slurry of red hair, back facing me. Remus was talking to her. I grinned and darted around the crowd over to them.

"Why, hello, Moony. I wouldn't suppose you've seen my beautiful girlfriend anywhere, have you?"

Remus grinned. "Why, I'm not sure that I have. Remind me, was she the one with the long raven black hair and grey eyes Or was she the fiery blonde with those dull blue eyes?"

"Ha ha," Lily said, turning to face me.

I stood there and stared at her, speechless.

She was...

She was...

_Breathtaking._

I stood there for a few moments, staring at her, taking her in. My open mouth probably made me look less intelligent than I'd've wanted, but at that moment, I couldn't care less. All that mattered in that moment was Lily.

"Err, James? Hello? You all right?" Lily asked, looking awkward and embarrased.

I snapped out of it and smiled down at her. Then I looked over at Remus. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to take this girl off your hands right now."

Remus looked solemn, a slight smirk under the frown. "I don't know about that, Prongs, I've grown rather attached to this one." And, as if to prove his point, he linked his arm around Lily's arm. He grinned mockingly.

"Oh, is that a challenge?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "Very well. I shall challenge you to a duel, and the winner gets the fair maiden, Lily Evans."

Lily looked at both of us, groaning slightly. "Don't I get a say in this?"

The both of us started to say no, then looked at each other. I changed my mind and said, "Of course. Pick your suitor, fair lady." I bowed impressively.

Lily laughed at my theatrics, and said, "Well, in that case, I pick...Sirius."

Both me and stared at her as if she had gone mad, and the, as if on cue, Sirius bounded towards the three of us.

"So, how is everyone doing right now?" He glanced at Lily. "Wow, Evans, you look fantastic."

"Well, you'd better think that, seeing as you're her new boyfriend, apparently," I muttered, and the three of us that were in on the joke laughed.

Sirius just stared at us, confused. "I don't get it."

We continued to laugh, and promptly tried to explain.

Once he understood, Sirius joined in with our laughter, and turned to Lily. "But, Lily, darling, I thought we had agreed to keep our forbidden love a secret! But, as long as the truth is out, we might as well get away from all these people, wouldn't you agree?" He suggestively winked at her.

I butted in. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's not get carried away!"

"No," Remus added, with a laugh. "We must set a curfew for the young lovers."

I glared at him. "_You_ would say that, wouldn't you?"

"Okay, boys," Lily interjected, holding her arms out. "How about we just—"

Suddenly, there came a loud banging coming from the front doors. All the heads in the room turned in the direction of the noise. Suddenly, a man stumbled in. He was wearing a fake eye, which looked disturbingly fake and out of control. He was looking around, and seemed mad, and I recognized him as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, one of my father's colleagues.

His face looked grave yet wild, and he said, "We have found Charlus Potter, alive and alone in the forest."

Suddenly, my heart lightened, as if a heavy weight I hadn't even realized was there had been lifted. I looked around the hall, where people were grinning and sighing and laughing with relief.

"Quiet, now!" Mad-Eye shouted, his fake eye spinning around and glaring at everyone in the room. "There's some bad news, too!"

* * *

**GASP! What's the bad news?**

**Guess you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out!**

**Anyways, review! Even if the story is long past completion when you read this, I'll really appreciate a review!**


	46. Why Vegetables Are Bad

**Welcome back, guys! Hope you had a good time! :D**

**OSG Loves To Read: When I went through my reviews, I felt too lazy to bother replying, but then I saw yours, and it got me thinking. I just wanna say, your idea was _not_ the bad news Moody indicated (as you will shortly find out), but dang, that was a good idea.**

**And Prongsiepoo: (might as well respond to yours while I'm at it) ANYWAYS ANYWAYS ANYWAYS that's what I say, that's what my friends say, that's what everyone I know says. If you look it up, you'll find that it is a slang word, so I have just as much right to make my characters say or think the word 'anyways' as much as 'ain't' or 'd'you' or 'blimey'. And as for the author's notes, I don't think I've ever bothered giving off the whole "professional" tone. So, _anyways_, I hope you don't mind my continued use of the word. (And PS, you said 'btw' in your review. Last I checked, 'btw' isn't a word either)**

**Disclaimer: The president of the United States of America doesn't own Harry Potter. Bill Nye the Science Guy doesn't own Harry Potter. Justin Timberlake doesn't own Harry Potter. Flo from Progressive doesn't own Harry Potter. ****_I_**** definitely don't own Harry Potter. There's only one person who owns Harry Potter, and that's JK Rowling.**

* * *

Sirius's POV:

"Quiet, now!" Mad-Eye shouted, his fake eye spinning around and glaring at everyone in the room. "There's some bad news, too!"

I glanced sideways, who was staring at Mad-Eye, confused and slightly scared. Which pretty much described how I was feeling at the moment.

"When we discovered him, he was alive, but barely. He's under some curse we haven't seen before. I hate to ruin your party fun, but..." Mad-Eye's face drooped a little here, "He's dying."

"No!"

I spun around and saw James, looking angry and scared and frustrated. I saw Lily grab his arm, which was tensing up, as if he was about to punch someone in the face.

And, quite frankly, I wanted to punch someone, too. But I guess somebody knew that, because suddenly I felt frozen, like a Freezing Charm had been cast on me. I bet it was Remus.

Something other than the obvious was striking me as odd, but I couldn't quite tell what.

And suddenly, I understood.

The entire room had gone deadly silent.

I wanted to punch everyone.

* * *

Lily's POV:

Two days after the Holiday Party, Charlus, who had been stuck in St. Mungos, died.

Two days after that, his funeral was held.

Those four days had been some of the worst in my life. Everyone had been affected in some way.

Peter seemed completely lost, if only for the fact that the rest of the Marauders were also lost.

Remus, who usually had some wise statement to say, had nothing. There also was a full moon, so he wasn't around as much as he probably felt he should have been.

Sirius was acting like I had never seen him. He didn't crack a single joke, didn't waggle his eyebrows at some immature innuendo, didn't crack a single cheeky grin. He had gotten moody, and he hexed people at every chance, picking fights and snogging random Muggle girls. Remus confiscated his wand, but that didn't stop him from getting restless.

But it was James who was taking it the worst.

The morning after Moody delivered the horrible news, I crept into his room to check up on him. He opened the door almost immediately, and smiled at me. His smile was wider than I'd ever seen it.

"Hi, Lily!" he said, embracing me in a quick hug. "Fancy a pumpkin pastry?"

I stared at him, but his smile didn't falter.

"No pumpkin pastry? All right, how about a cauldron cake, I ca —"

"James, are you okay?"

I was expecting a "No" or a "My dad is dying, what do you think?", but his response caught me by surprise.

"Course I'm all right, why wouldn't I be?" He chuckled at me, amused. "Are you sure you don't want so—"

"Your dad's on your death bed, and you're not eve—"

"What are you talking about? My dad's out on a mission, he's not dying, he's too goo—"

"James, stop this, it's not funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny. My dad's perfectly all right, when he comes home, you have to meet him, he'll love you."

"Bloody hell, you're in denial."

"Lily, y..."

I drowned his voice out in my mind. He was in denial. I wasn't sure whether this was a good or bad thing. I didn't know how to deal with this. The worst part was that I couldn't ask anyone. Dorea spent her entire time at Charlus's bedside in St. Mungos, and right now, they were accepting family only, so I couldn't ask her. And then there was Sirius, who might've known James even better than Dorea, but emotionally he was in no position to help anyone. Remus was still at home, suffering the after-effects of a full moon.

I noticed James was looking at me funny, so I started listening again.

"...perfectly safe, right? I mean, I'd know if he wasn't, right?"

I looked at him sadly. "James..."

"Don't give me that sympathetic look! My father's alive!" He was starting to get angry and desparate, and I backed away slowly.

"If you need me, I'll be in my room."

Didn't they have therapists for this sort of thing?

* * *

The next day, James's entire mood had taken a 180 degree turn.

I made him some breakfast myself,the Muggle way, and brought it up to his room. This time, when I knocked on his door, he didn't answer. I knocked for a few minutes, before opening it myself.

"James?"

He was laying in his bed, eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling. He didn't even regard me at all.

I marched up to him, and dropped the tray of food onto his lap. "Eat," I ordered.

His eyes glanced up at mine, before closing. "I'm not hungry," he muttered after a long pause.

I grabbed his shoulder and yanked it up, so he was sitting straight. "Well, that's too bad, because you're eating anyways."

He groaned. "I don't _want_ to eat."

"Didn't I just say that's too bad? Eat, now."

He tried to wriggle free from my grip, but his attempts were feeble. Finally, he sighed and gave up. "Lily, you don't understa—"

"Don't you _dare_ say I don't understand, James Potter. Do you even remember why I came to your house in the first place?"

"You had nowhere else to go."

"Because?"

"Because your sister kicked you out after your pare...oh, right."

"_Oh, right_," I mocked. I let go of his shoulder and sat down next to him. "Come on, you still have one last chance to talk to your dad before..." I sighed. "I didn't have that chance."

He glanced at me sideways. "Lily..."

I reached forward, grabbing each of his shoulders, and pulled him closer to me. I pressed my lips against his cheek, and he wrapped his arms around me.

"Your mum's at St. Mungo's right now. It's about time you go. I bet your dad wants to see you," I said. "Sirius, too," I added as an afterthought. Then I pulled away from his arms and stood up. "And when you come back, you have to stop being a vegetable."

He gave me a look. "A vegetable?"

"You know, a vegetable. Still, lifeless, doesn't show signs of life. A vegetable." He continued to give me the look, so I bent down, my face dangerously close to his. I smiled wickedly. "Besides, I can't do this with a vegetable," I whispered, before closing the gap.

* * *

After fifteen minutes or so, James and I emerged from his room, ready for St. Mungo's. I marched over to Sirius's door and knocked loudly. "Sirius Black! Get out here now!"

"Blimey, you sound like my mother," James commented quietly, and I chuckled.

I continued to knock on the door, until finally I heard some noises from inside. From what I heard, I figured that there was another random Muggle girl in there, and Sirius was trying to hide her under the bed. I scoffed, and again knocked on the door. "Sirius, open this door ==now==!"

Suddenly, the door opened, and there appeared a furious Sirius. "What in bloody hell are you up to, interrupting me like that, I'm busy! Can't leave me alone, can you? I'm gonna —"

"You better not be threatening my girlfriend, mate," said James.

Sirius glared at James, fists clenching, and I promptly pulled out my wand and froze his arms. He turned to glare at me, but I didn't care.

"We're going to St. Mungo's right now," I said. "You can either come with us, or stay here and regret it your entire life."

"I'm not—"

"You want to regret never thanking him for all he's done for you?"

"I don—"

"You're coming with us."

"You—"

"You don't have a choice."

"But you ju—"

"Come on."

"I—"

"Come on."

He glared at me one last time, before storming out of the room and slamming the door shut, nearly breaking the hinges. He gave me an evil glare, which I easily shrugged off. The three of us immediately proceeded over to the fireplace, and I grabbed a nearby flowerpot.

"You first, Sirius," I said, holding out the flowerpot at him. He grumbled while taking it, and I chastised him. "Don't give me that mood."

"Blimey, Lils, it's like you're _trying_ to be like my mum!" exclaimed James.

I turned so I could glare at him. "Well, seeing as your mum's not present at the moment, I figured someone needs to take care of you two."

He smiled gently. It the first smile I'd gotten out of him all day. Sirius, meanwhile, threw the Floo powder into the flames, shouting, "St. Mungos!" he vanished with a puff of smoke.

I turned to James. "You go next."

He nodded, and pecked my cheek, before giving me his second smile of the day. He took some of the powder, threw it into the fireplace, and disappeared after a moment.

I took a breath, then set the flowerpot down, picking up some powder in my hands. I stepped into the flames, shouted "St. Mungo's!", and I was off.

A few seconds later, I emerged in the hospital. Sirius was already marching towards the front desk, and James was standing there, waiting for me.

"Wow, what a gentleman," I commented, walking up to him. "Waiting for me and everything." I grinned. "Whatever happened to you?"

"I started talking to you, that's what," he responded gently, before sliding his arm around my waist. "C'mon, I want you to meet my dad, at least once."

We walked in Sirius's direction, and met up with him. "The counter person said he's on the fourth floor, ward 43."

James nodded, and the three of us dashed through the corridor, up four flights of stairs, through another corridor, and up to the sign that read, "Ward 43".

Suddenly, Dorea Potter walked out of the door, looking startled at having found us there.

"Is Dad still in there?" James asked, in a slight whisper.

Dorea froze, looking as solemn as possible, and suddenly I knew what she was going to say before she said it.

"I'm so, so, so sorry, all of you, but you — you're too late. He — he didn't make it."

* * *

**Don't kill me, I know your reactions to the end of the chapter, mostly because I'm having the same reaction myself. Oh, the cruel irony, they didn't make it in time.**

**Well, review! *acting all cheerful***


	47. That Overprotective Git

**Well, heyyyyyyyy!**

**Hope everybody likes this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Remember the past 46 chapters, where I told you I don't own Harry Potter? Well, nothing's changed since then. Except for some minor, unrelated things in my life that I'm not about to go around publishing on the internet.**

* * *

James's POV:

I hated the sign.

_Charlus Potter_

_1919-1976_

_Great husband, father, and friend._

I hated it so much.

I glanced up at the stage where the short man was giving a speech about how the dead never leave us and a bunch of other nonsense. I glanced to my left, where my mum was sitting, barely moving, seemingly indifferent to the man's words. I then glanced to my right, where Sirius was slouching and staring into his lap.

Everything was wrong.

The sign, the speech, the reactions. It was all wrong.

My dad couldn't be dead. My dad shouldn't be dead. A Ministry official shouldn't have to talk about his life accomplishments as if that was all there was to my dad.

I hated it.

I hated being here.

I hated having to have to be here.

My father wasn't supposed to be dead.

I glanced at the black coffin.

This was all wrong.

* * *

Lily's POV:

Throughout the entire speech, I was watching James. I wanted so badly to sit next to him, because I could tell he was lost.

I felt like it was my fault. If only I had gotten James and Sirius there a little sooner, they might have been able to say goodbye. Just a few minutes earlier, and they might've gotten to talk to him one last time...

"...and now his son, James Potter, is going to say a few words."

My head popped up as I watched James stand up and walk up to the podium nervously. I hadn't realized he had a speech. He stood there for a few minutes, not looking up. He took a deep breath.

On my first day at Hogwarts, at King's Cross, my mum told me two things. The first was to be a good boy, and the second was to stay out of trouble. And who knows, I just might've been a good boy like she said, if it weren't for my dad." He looked up, and said, smiling sadly, "See, he told me that I had to cause the professors enough trouble that, when I came home, I'd have run out of mischief." A few people laughed here. James took another breath, and continued. "Then, a few months later, McGonagall called my parents to her office to discuss my bad behavior. When my mum finished yelling at me, all my dad wanted to know was what spell I used to transfigure the toilets." A few more people laughed. James continued. "My dad—"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

All heads spun around, just to find a middle-aged witch flying high in the air, screaming for her life. At first I thought it might've just been some prank, but then I wondered, who would pull a prank on such a solemn, serious occasion?

Suddenly, several hooded, masked figured walked into the room. And although I'd never seen them before, I knew what they were.

Death Eaters.

Instantly, I pulled my wand out and aimed for the nearest Death Eater. "_Reducto_!" The Death Eater went flying back as the spell hit him.

I continued aiming, shooting, and dodging spells. Suddenly, I felt an arm on my shoulder. Instinctively, I spun around and pointed my wand at —

"James!"

He stared at me intently. "Get out of here!"

We both ducked as a green spell shot our way, and after it sailed over our heads, I sent a jinx over at our assailant. Then I faced James. "Are you crazy?! I'm fighting, too!"

Two spells came flinging towards us, from opposite directions, and James pushed us out of the way. We each shot a hex at each of the Death Eaters, and James shouted, "No, Lily, you gotta get out of here!"

"No, James!" I shouted, and shot a spell at another Death Eater, who had been aiming his wand at James's back.

James glanced behind him, then back at me, a shocked look on his face. Then he looked determined. He lunged forward at me, grabbing my wrist, and the two of us Disapparated out of the room.

We appeared in front of James's house, and James dragged me inside, despite my loud protests.

Once we were inside. "You are staying here," he told me.

I glared at him. "James Pot—"

He kissed me softly on the lips, effectively shutting me up, before pulling away. "Be safe," he whispered, and Disapparated again.

I stomped my feet. I would've Apparated back to fight, I really would've, but I had no idea where it was. And without knowing the destination, the determination and deliberation parts of Apparition were pointless.

I groaned. Who did he think I was, a child? I knew how to fight, I wanted to fight! I didn't need protection!

There were Death Eaters out there! What was I supposed to do, sot back and watch them hurt everyone?

I collapsed on a chair. What if James got hurt or worse, killed? And I could've saved him? I doubted I'd've been able to live with myself if that had happened.

I sighed, then headed for the kitchen, and helped myself to a glass of water and some chicken. The chicken was actually really good(1).

I then sat there and waited for any news from the funeral. I waited for at least an hour.

The suspense was murdering me.

It was eating my insides out.

Did everyone make it?

Suddenly, Dorea Potter appeared right in front of me. She then reached forward and hugged me. "Oh, Lily, you're safe, I was so worried about you!"

I shrugged. "I would've stayed and fought, but your son dragged me over here."

She looked at me. "Oh, that James. I'll have to thank him later."

I suddenly felt better. "So he's all right, then?"

She smiled sadly. "Yes, almost everybody made it out safely."

"Almost?"

Dorea sighed. "We lost a few good Aurors, and I'm afraid one of James's cousins got injured, but other than that, everyone's safe."

I tried to let the information digest into my brain, but all that stayed in my brain was one thing: James was alive. He was safe. He was well.

"But wait, where is he then?" I asked. "James, I mean."

"He and Sirius went to talk to Dumbledore about something. I'm not sure what. He'll be back soon, though, I'm sure."

I nodded. "Thank you."

She smiled. "It was no problem. No problem at all." She then smiled at me. "You know, I'm really glad you and James started going out. You're a good girl, and it's a refreshing change to see James happy with you, instead of pining after you." She paused, then added, "He's loved you for quite some time now, you know." Here, she checked her watch. "I'd better go back and help out however I can. You stay here and welcome James and Sirius when they return."

I nodded, and she Disapparated.

_He's loved you for quite some time now_.

I thought about those words. _Loved_. Did James really _love_ me? I mean, I knew he liked me, and I certainly liked him back, but _love_? Merlin knows love's a pretty big word.

A few short minutes later, James and Sirius walked in, looking tired. At the sight of me, though, James pepped up. He reached forward and hugged me, and I hugged him back, just as tight. I glanced over James's shoulder at Sirius, who was looking at me with one eyebrow raised.

I rolled my eyes, knowing what he was saying, but nevertheless, I pecked James on the cheek. I glanced back at Sirius, who nodded in satisfaction. Once again, I rolled my eyes, and tore away from James.

"So what'd Dumbledore say?" I asked the two boys, who were falling down onto the various seats.

The two looked at each other, exchanged looks, and Sirius turned to me. "He was just complimenting us on our bravery, and stuff."

"And...?" I asked, unsatisfied.

James bit his lip. "Well, he also told us 'bout this organization he started. It's called the Order of the Phoenix."

"Phoenix?"

"Yeah. It's sort of an Anti-Voldemort league, more or less. We're thinking of joining."

I nodded in understanding. "What do the members do?"

"Fight Voldemort, what else?" said Sirius.

I nodded absent-mindedly, thinking. Then I spoke up. "I'm going to join."

"No!" shouted James, standing up abruptly. "You are not risking your li—"

"You can't tell me what I can or can't do!" I shouted, standing up just as fast, facing James head-on. Sirius took it as a cue and crept out of the room and up the staircase.

James glared at me. "The Order's not some little club, you know!"

"And you thought I didn't figure that out already?"

"It's not safe for you!"

"I don't care about my safety as much as I care about stopping Voldemort!"

"Well, I do!"

"Well, I don't care what you think, it's not up to you!"

"You're not joining, you could get yourself killed!"

"You think I don't know that?"

"I don't want to lose you!"

"I'm not some little weakling, you know? I can put up a decent fight, y'know!"

"This isn't Hogwarts, you know! You're not joining, and that's final!"

"Well, guess what? You're not the bleeding boss of me!"

"You—"

"I'm out of here!" I shouted, and made for the door.

"Lily!" cried James, sounding panicky. "Wait! Come back!"

"You're not the boss of me," I repeated cooly, before dashing out. I kept running. I couldn't go home, not after the incident with Petunia. And I couldn't go to a Marauder's house, nor Marlene's or Mary's.

Then I knew where to go.

I Disapparated just as James came running out the door.

* * *

**Dun.**

**Dun.**

**Dunnnnnnnnnnn!**

**Remember to review!**

**1) Hehe, remember Sirius's letter? Her chicken's really good.**

**Hope you guys liked this one! Remember to review, or you'll never see what happens next...*evil chuckle***


	48. Nikki or Kiki

**hola.**

**Whats up?**

**Anyways, I have some apologizing to do. I haven't been writing that much in a while, so that's why it took so long fr this update. I'll try to be better, though!**

**Also, I'd like to answer a few of your guys' question. Basically, this story will go on to slightly past Lily and James's death. We'll get a cruel taste of Sirius in Azkaban, Remus feeling betrayed, and Peter on the run. Possibly even the Longbottom's...you know.**

**However, I'm probably going to splice the story into to. Learning To Love Him will probably last until graduation day, and then I'll write a sequel. Sound good?**

**Cap92A: OMG I LOVED YOUR REVIEW JUST BECAUSE OF THE MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE!**

**Disclaimer: I'm tired and not in the modto come up with a funny disclaimer. But I assure you, nothing has changed since the last chapter.**

**Okay, well now for this epic chapter!**

* * *

Lily's POV:

"Lily?" she asked me, looking at me confused. "What are you doing here? I thought you were spending the holidays with James and Sirius?"

"James and I had a fight."

"Again?(1) Oh no!" she exclaimed. "That's awful! Why? What was it about?"

I shook my head. "If you don't mind, I really would rather not talk about it right now."

Alice nodded. "Right, I get it. If Frank and I had a fight...yeesh."

I smiled. "Thanks. Is it okay if I stay here for a bit?"

She nodded vigourously. "Of course! Come on in! My mum is going to be so pleased you're here! We haven't seen much of you since..."

I knew what she was thinking: since Marlene and Mary and I had our falling out. But I knew she didn't want to mention that, so I offered, "Since James and I started going out?"

She smiled. "Yeah, that too."

She moved aside, and I walked into her house. I'd visited her a few times over the years, so I was already familiar with the place. But I couldn't help but feel a bit remorseful. It wasn't my house, it wasn't even James's house. But it was a warm house, willing to let me in, so I was glad to be here.

Alice grabbed my arm and dragged me up the staircase and into her room. "Mum's going to be here in a couple of hours, don't worry. Also, Frank's coming over for dinner later." She giggled. Gosh, Alice was such a girl!

We sat down on her bed, and she pulled out a game of Exploding Snap. During the games, I felt a little homesick for James.

James's little half-smirk when he teases me.

James's laughter.

James's lips on mine.

I mentally sighed. I wasn't supposed to be missing him _this soon_.

I glanced down at the game and realized it was my turn. We played it for a few hours, until we heard the door open.

"Now, Frank, it really is sweet of you to help me with the groceries—"

Alice rolled her eyes. "My mum's simply _infatuated_ with Frank."

"Just like you?" I added.

She laughed then. "Well, yeah, but I'm supposed to be! I'm his girlfriend!"

"Oi! Alice! Get down here!" her mum shouted.

Alice grinned. "C'mon, let's get down there." She grabbed my wrist again, this time dragging me down the stairs. Once we entered the kitchen, Alice said, "Hey, Mum, look who turned up?"

Alice's mum turned around and smiled at me. "Lily! How nice to see you? What're you doing here?"

I wasn't really in the mood for explaining, so I just said, "Just visiting Alice."

"Well, the more the merrier! I'm just about to start cooking, and when Alice's father gets here, that'll be dinner for five!"

I smiled. "Thank you."

"Not at all, dear."

In just a few minutes, Alice's dad showed up, and him and Frank talked a bit in the sitting room. A few minutes later, Mrs. Selwyn called everyone to dinner.

The pot roast was really delicious, and reminded me of the feasts at Hogwarts.

About halfway through, Frank turned to Alice. "So I was talking to Dumbledore the other day..."

_Merlin, he's been invited to the Order, too. Oh no, the scene with me and James is about to play itself over again, I just know it!_

"...and he came to tell me that, how did he put it? 'In times of darkness like this, our only key to survival is love', or something like that. So I got to thinking." He took a deep breath, and got up from his chair. Then he got down on one knee. And pulled a velvet box out of his robe. I noticed Alice's eyes go wide as he opened the box. "Alice Selwyn, will you marry m—"

"YES!" shrieked Alice, and she dashed forward and took the ring from a now-grinning-like-a-fool Frank. The two of the kissed, and the three of us started applauding (though I noticed Alice's dad's applause to be just a tad forced).

Alice then went round, hugging each and every one of us. When the time came to hug her mother, the two of them clutched each other, weeping.

I smiled at them, congratulating them, hardly believing it. I mean, we were still in Hogwarts! And now they were in love and getting married? It was crazy.

But, to be honest, I liked the thought of it.

Heck, I _loved_ the thought of it.

My brain went against my will and moved to James. And then it went to what, according to Frank, Dumbledore had said. I mean, with everything going on and Voldemort gaining power, it hardly seemed like the time for love.

But then again, Dumbledore hadn't been wrong about something yet.

Again, my thoughts drifted to James. What if...

Maybe I _did_ love James, and I'd just been denying it.

Maybe I did.

Alice went to hug me. "Lily! This is amazing! Can you believe it?"

I grinned. "It's amazing, Alice. Nobody deserves it more than you."

She smiled at me with teary eyes. "Aww, don't worry, it'll happen to you, too, I just know it!"

In about half an hour, when all the congratulations and celebrations were done, Alice stood up. "I've got to go now." Her parents didn't question this abrupt decision, but the look on my face must've shown my confusion, because Alice pulled me away and said, "Don't hate me, but I'm going to go tell Mary and Marlene."

I nodded. "Oh, okay. But why on earth would I hate you?"

"Because...I thought you and Marlene didn't like each other anymore."

My eyes widened and I shook my head. "No, of course not! I still consider her one of my best friends, even if she hasn't been acting like one lately."

"Oh, okay," she replied. "Well, I'll get going now then. Have fun...err...with my family."

"That's okay, I ought to get going now anyway."

"Right. Well...bye."

"Bye! Owl me soon, I'll never forgive you if I'm not involved in my friend's wedding!"

"Of course! Blimey, I'm getting _married_!"

I chuckled, and the two of us Disapparated to our various destinations.

I appeared in front of James's house. I entered the front doors, but nobody was in there. I walked into the living room, and instantly wished I'd knocked.

"Oi! Sirius Black!"

Sirius popped his mouth off the girl he'd been snogging and glanced at me, looking a tad nervous. "Oh, hey, Lily. This is...what was your name again?"

The girl huffed. "I'm Nikki. This isn't your girlfriend, is it?"

Sirius and I simultaneously made gagging motions. "Merlin, no, I'd never date _him_!"

"Merlin?" Nikki asked, confused. "Isn't that some magician bloke from the medieval times, or something?"

I turned to Sirius. "Muggle?"

"Duh."

I groaned. "Well, whatever. It's not my concern who you snog. Where's James?"

He sighed, at turned to Nikki. "You'd better get going now. Maybe we can meet up again tomorrow?"

She nodded, and made her way out the door. Sirius turned back to me. "He left right after you did to go looking for you. He was going half-insane when you stormed out. He even called me Wormtail." He snorted. "As if. Well, either way, he told me to stay here in case you came back."

"Oh, okay. Well then I guess I'll just hang 'round here 'till he comes back?"

Sirius shook his head. "Nah, I'll call him. See, we got these secret communication mirrors." He pulled a mirror out his pocket. "See? I just need to call him, and tell hi — oh look, he's calling now."

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. "Hey, pretend I'm not here, okay? I wanna see how he responds."

Sirius, nodded, grinning, and looked into the mirror. "Hey, mate. Found Evans yet?"

I heard James's voice come from the mirror. "Nope, no luck. I was just hoping she had turned up at the house."

"Nah, I'd've called you if she had." I had to restrain a laugh.

"Right. I know you would, I guess I was just hoping." I heard him sigh. "How am I going to apologize to her now?"

Sirius looked up at me for just a split second, then looked back at the mirror, and said, "Listen, Prongs, maybe you should just give up and come back. She'll probably turn up by morning, y'know?"

"You think so?"

"Definitely."

"Okay then. I'm just going to check her old house one last time, and I'll be back."

"Right. See you then." Sirius then stuffed the mirror in the picket and looked at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked, feeling slightly irritated.

"Nothing, nothing," he replied, then fell back into his seat. "Blimey, I wish Kiki was here again."

"She said her name was Nikki."

"Nah, I'm talking about someone else. Remember the day Charlus..." he trailed off.

"Yeah."

"Well, there was a girl in my room, that's why I was so ang—"

"I know."

"Well, we never got to finish what we started." He leaned back even firther into his chair and sighed in nostalgia. "And Merlin, she was a good snogger."

I coughed uncomfortably. "Next time, wait 'till James or Peter gets here, this isn't exactly the kind of stuff I'd like to listen to."

He faked shock. "But, Lily-flower, I thought we were just having a nice girl talk!"

I laughed. "Not the same thing!"

He smirked. "Oh, I knew that."

"Shut up!" I retaliated, and the two of us started laughing hard, which was odd, because it wasn't even that funny.

The second our laughter died down, I heard the front door open and close. I quickly hid behind the wall, and saw as James walked in and looked at Sirius.

I spoke up. "You, know, I'm rather disappointed in you for giving up looking for me that easily."

James spun around, and when he saw me, he looked excited. "Lily! When'd you get here?"

I shrugged, a small grin forming on my face. "A couple minutes before you last called Sirius."

His head spun between the two of us. "Wait — what — she — but you said —"

Sirius shook his head, laughing. Then he pointed at me, "It was all her idea!"

James turned to me. "What?"

I laughed. "Sorry 'bout that." Then, I stepped up towards him, and said softly, "You forgive me?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, if you forgive me."

I wrapped my arms around his neck. "For what?"

"For yelling at you and trying to tell you what to do," he said quietly.

"You're forgiven," I whispered.

"Oi! Just kiss her already!" Sirius shouted, and James complied.

We kissed each other for what seemed like ages until we remembered that oxygen was a necessity.

"Merlin, I love you," I whispered, once I'd caught my breath.

I felt James's breathing hitch, and he froze. "Y — you do?"

I nodded, not removing my eyes from his.

He watched me for a few moments, before a small goofy smile formed on his face. "I love you, too."

* * *

**So**

**1) I'd just like to clear up that by _again_, Alice doesn't mean they're a couple that fights often, but just that they've fought a LOT in the past. Which we all knew.**


	49. Mr Paws, the Fluffiest Demon Ever

**Hi, guys? How're you doing? =D**

**Well, here's the next chapter! It's just a bunch of fluffy scenes throughout one day.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

James's POV:

"You know, mate, you'd better watch out if you know what's good for you," Sirius commented during breakfast. He then took a great bite out of his waffle.

"Why?" I asked warily.

Sirius raised his eyebrows at me, then swallowed. "Well, you know what they say about _older women_ and their fascination with _younger men_."

Remus, Lily, and I all simultaneously groaned.

"Pads, she's about two months older than me!"

"Well, she's still potent."

"I resent that," Lily said, looking a bit irritated.

"You should," replied Sirius, and the three of us groaned again.

"I don't get it," Peter admitted, looking sheepish.

"Why, Wormtail! Wormy, wormy, worm worm worm," Sirius said, shaking his head solemnly. "It's dear Lily's birthday today!"

"It is?" Peter asked, surprised. "Happy birthday!"

Lily smiled. "Thanks."

I turned to her. "That reminds me, you have to stay away from the Head's Dorms for the next two hours."

Lily just looked at me. "Why?"

"I've got a surprise for you, that's why."

She looked both interested and suspicious at the same time. "Good surprise or bad surprise?"

I thought about it. "Well, it'll probably be a bad surprise for these three," I said, gesturing at Peter, Sirius, and Remus, "But a good surprise for you, don't worry!"

She nodded. "That's fine."

"Woah, woah, woah, what's this 'surprise', exactly," Remus asked suspiciously.

I held his my high. "I shan't answer in front of the lady."

They all groaned.

* * *

Lily's POV:

"I shan't answer in front of the lady."

I probably shouldn't've, but I felt a little smug at those words. I think the Marauder-ness was rubbing off on me.

"Hey, Lily!" Alice shouted across the Gryffindor table, despite a sulking Marlene. "Happy birthday!"

I grinned. "Thanks, Alice!" I shouted, just as loud.

"Hey," James whispered. "Tell her she's invited to your birthday party."

"I'm having a birthday party?" I asked, slightly bewildered. Sure, we'd celebrated my birthday, but I hadn't had an actual party since I came to Hogwarts.

"Well, duh," answered not James, but Sirius. "We're Marauders, we throw parties for _everything_."

"Sometimes," added Remus, "We'll even throw a party for nothing, as long as our mood is right."

"Which it usually is," ammended Sirius.

"True."

"Anyway," James said, wrapping his arm around me, despite the fact that he was holding his glass of pumpkin juice in it, "You're a Marauder's girlfriend, what are we going to do, let your birthday pass by unnoticed? S'not everyday you turn eighteen. So ask her!"

I nodded, and stood up, nearly knocking James's glass over. "Oi! Alice!"

"Yeah?"

"James says you're invited to my birthday party!"

"Frank, too," James whispered.

"Your fiance, too!"

I noticed Alice grin a bit at the use of the word _fiance_, as I knew she would, before shouting, "You're having a party, then? Great, I'll be there!"

"That's great—"

"Will the two of you stop shouting, already?" called Sirius.

"I'm the Head Girl, I can do what I want," I told him, sitting down nonetheless.

"Ooh, Sassy Evans, me like!"

"Well, me like her, too, so back off," James said jokingly.

"Ooh, Jealous Prongs, me like!"

The five of us burst out laughing as we continued to eat.

* * *

Sirius's POV:

I couldn't believe James.

_I_ couldn't believe James.

I _couldn't_ believe James.

I couldn't _believe_ James.

I couldn't believe _James_.

_I couldn't believe James_.(1)

"I can't believe you!" I yelled at James. "How could you — why would you —"

"Shut up," James told me, looking lovingly down at the little monster. "Lily's going to _love_ him."

"Bu — b — but " Peter stammered. "tha — that — that's a —"

"Meow," said the cat.

"Oh, come on, Lily will love Mr. Paws!" James exclaimed, holding up the cat. The three of us backed away immediately.

"You _named_ the little demon Mr. Paws?" Remus asked, horror in his voice. I had to agree, this was wrong on so many levels.

"Prongs, what did we say about getting a cat in first year?" I asked him.

"That I'm not allowed to," James answered promptly. "But we don't live in the same dorm anymore, so I don't have to follow your rules. And if I want to get Lily a fluffy little cat for her birthday, so help me, I _will_."

I sighed in resignation. "Well, you know what this means, right?"

"What?"

"i'm sorry, mate, but we just can't be friends anymore while there's _that_ in the way of our friendship."

James laughed. "Come on, you're overreacting. I know you don't like cats—"

"They're the natural enemy of dogs. They think they own everything," I said, glaring at the little devil.

"Shut up, Padfoot," I said.

* * *

"Okay, Lils, now listen closely," James told Lily. "Here's the plan: The party's being held in a secret room on the seventh floor —"

"You mean the Room of Requirement?" Lily asked, and I choked on my juice.

"How do _you_ know about the Room of Requirement?" I asked her, and, based on the looks on my friends' faces, they were all wondering the exact same thing.

She shrugged. "I ran into it a few times, and it didn't quite take too long to catch on to what the room did."

James pouted. "But it was supposed to be a surprise: you come in to the room, see it perfectly designed for your birthday, and—"

"And she gets infatuated with you, and the two of you have a right good snog," I finished for him. "We _get it_. Just tell her the rest of the plan, okay?"

James whispered something to Lily, who giggled. (2)

"What is it?" I demanded, and the two put on innocent faces. I groaned.

Nonetheless, James turned to Lily and continued. "Well, your party's in that room. And since you already know about that room, I guess we don't need the blindfold..."

"Wear it anyway!" I insisted. "It'll be all the more fun!"

James turned to Lily. "Would you mind wearing the blindfold?"

"Oh, fine."

"Then, after the party, head back to our common room so you can have my surprise."

"Not unless I kill it first," I muttered under my breath.

* * *

Lily's POV:

"Okay, turn right, now," James said.

"Which way?" I asked.

"What?"

"Which way do I turn?"

"I just told you right, now."

"Well I didn't hear you, so could you just tell me now?"

"I just did! Right, right now!"

"Just tell me again!"

"JUST TURN RIGHT!"

"STOP SHOUTING!"

"YOU STOP SHOUTING!"

"YOU'RE SO OBNOXIOUS!"

"But you love me anyway," James said, and I could practically hear the smirk.

I sighed. "Oh, I s'pose so. Which way do I turn again?"

* * *

"Happy birthday!"

I smiled, looking around the amazing room. "Wow, thanks, everyone!"

Sirius, Peter, and Remus all cleared their throats and sang in unison.

"You're the birthday girl,

In your birthday world,

Here's your birthday song,

Hope it's not too long!"

I stared at them. I was never going to understand these Madauders.

* * *

"I want my present!"

James chuckled. "One moment, love, we're nearly there."

I grumbled. "What _I_ don't get is why I'm still wearing this bloody blindfold."

I could hear him sigh as he directed me to turn left. "Blindfolds make things more fun!"

"So I've heard," I responded, and he snickered. (3)

"Here we are!" exclaimed James cheerfully, and we entered the room. James unfolded the blindfold and I found myself...

"Our common room?" I asked, slightly amused but also irritated that he had made so many unnecessary twists and turns.

He nodded. "Your surprise is somewhere in this room."

"Ah, a scavenger hunt," I said, and started searching around the room. I lifted one of the sofa cushions. "It under one of these?"

"No, I'm not _that_ cruel."

I swallowed my confusion at his words and kept searching. I checked the fireplace and the drawers and everywhere else, but I couldn't find anything.

I ended up checking the bathroom, and in there I saw—

"LOOK AT THIS ADORABLE KITTY!" I shouted, picking up the little angel and spinning him around. I ran out of the bathroom and saw a very pleased looking James.

"Happy birthday, Lils," he responded, and I reached forward and hugged him.

"So you got me a cat?" I asked.

He nodded. "Kitten, actually." He stroked the cat's fur. "His name is Mr. Paws. My mates were furious, they hate cats. They'd never let me get one while we were in the same dorm."

I froze. "Wait. So what I'm hearing is that you got this kitten for yourself."

He shook his head immediately. "No, I got him for you."

"No, I think you got him for yourself."

"Don't be silly, it's your birthday."

"My birthday, an excuse to get yourself a cat."

"I still got him for you."

"You got him for yourself."

He paused. "I got him for _us_, how's that?"

I smiled. "That works." I then put the kitten down on the sofa, where he cuddled up against an armrest.

I smiled up at James. "Thanks."

He grinned at me, and ran his hand through his hair. "No problem." His glasses were tilted.

I reached up and straightened his glasses for him. I liked the fond way he was gazing at me. What had I been missing these past years?

I rested my hands on his shoulder, and he reached forward and kissed me.

The cat meowed.

* * *

**Okay, now that we got _that_ fluffiness out of the way, I promise the next couple of chapters will bring on more of the drama, action, and irony I oh-so-love writing.**

**1) Have you ever done that, where you mentally repeat the same sentence but with different inflections? I do that all the time.**

**2) James told Lily, "He's only cranky 'cause he's not getting any presents."**

**3) If you don't understand what joke I'm getting at with the 'fun with blindfolds' thing, don't ask me to explain it.**

**Well, you oughtta know the drill by now! Rrreeevvviiieeewww! (if you love me)**


	50. A Head Boy's Privilege

**Hello again!**

**I AM SO SO SO SO SO SSO SOO SSOO SO SSSO SSSOO SSSOOO SSOOO SSOO SSO SOOOOO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN FOREVER! I feel bad! I've just been super busy! I've had to take the PSAT, be a dama at a friends' quinceañera, work on two school projects, and on top of that, I've been behind on my homework. Gahhhhhhh**

**Disclaimer:**

**Me: STEEEEEWWWWWAAAAAARRRRRRRRTTTTTT!**

**Stewart: Don't yell.**

**Me: I'll do what I want. Anyways, did Operation GJKRTGMTRTHP (Get J K Rowling To Give Me The Rights To Harry Potter) work?**

**Stewart: Nope.**

**Me: Dang it.**

* * *

Lily's POV:

"Oi! Rosmerta!" shouted James.

Madame Rosmerta walked over to our table, looking slightly amused by the way James called her. "Yes?"

"The lady wants a drink. And so do I."

I laughed at the pompous way James ordered our drinks. He noticed me laughing and shot me a grin.

Rosmerta looked at us. "And what drink do you two want?"

"Butterbeer—"

"Firewhiskey—"

"James, that stuff is strong—"

"To a stranger to firewhiskey, such as yourself, yes, it's strong. But not to me, and _definitely_ not to Sirius."

Madame Rosmerta fetched our drinks, and I sipped my butterbeer. It had the perfect taste, without a doubt. I noticed James watching. I raised an eyebrow, and he drank some of his firewhiskey, still watching me.

Simultaneously, we both set down our drinks. James cleared his throat. "Hey, Lils, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"I'm listening."

He bit his lip. "Not in here, though."

I gave him an odd look. "Okay..."

He gestured a mildly annoyed Madame Rosmerta over, and paid for our drinks. We quickly finished them, then we stood up. James grabbed my hand and started pulling me out the door. We headed past the shops, past the restaurants, and into the woods.

"James..." I started nervously, glancing around. What if there were beasts hiding behind the bushes? Or worse, Death Eaters?

James let go of my hand and ruffled his hair nervously. "Look, Lils, I need to tell you something."

"I gathered that," I replied, moving my focus away from the bushes and toward James. "What is it?"

He sighed. "Don't freak, okay?"

I got a little worried, but nevertheless I nodded. "I won't."

* * *

James's POV:

"Okay." I leaned against a tree trunk and closed my eyes, not exactly sure how to say what I felt obliged to say. "You know...I mean...did you know...err...well...Remus...you know he...well, do you know his...errr...furry little secret?"

Lily nodded slowly. "That he's a werewolf, right? Or is there some other major secret?"

I chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure he has plenty of other secrets he'd rather we didn't know. But I'll figure them out someday." I shook my head. "Wait, I'm getting a bit off-topic here."

I sighed again. I was really afraid of Lily's reaction. But one rule of love is that you can't keep secrets. "Okay, well, you see, every month, he goes to—"

"—the Shrieking Shack," Lily supplied. "I know." She must have noticed the odd look I was giving her, for she added, "Remus told me."

I narrowed my eyebrows. "How much did Remus tell you?"

She bit her lip. "Not much. What were you saying?"

I continued to look at her, suspicious. But I still continued. "Well, when he's on his own, he tends to get a little...errr...frustrated. And self-violent."

"That's not a real wo—" Lily interjected, but I shushed her.

"You get what I mean. Anyways, me and Sirius and Pete, we decided to...err...accompany him. So we kinda sorta may have possibly became Animagi." I winced, waiting for her to yell.

A few moments passed by without a word from either of us. I was afraid to open my eyes, but suddenly I felt her lips on mine. My eyes popped open, surprised, and she pulled away.

"Wha...?" I asked, confused.

"I _know_ that," Lily stated.

I stared at her. "Wh—"

"Remus," she confessed, and I groaned.

"He told you?"

"Well, I more of tricked him out of it, if you know what I mean."

I grumbled. "When I find that little git, I'm going to—"

"KILL HIM!" a voice shrieked from the village, and both of our heads snapped in that direction.

"Hang on just a moment," I said to Lily, and headed towards the village.

I couldn't believe it.

The villagers were under attack by Death Eaters.

I turned around to return to Lily, but found that she was standing right next to me.

"Figures you'd follow me," I muttered. "Listen, you need to get ou—"

"James Potter, you are _not_ going to drag me out of this fight again."

"Bu—"

"Not buts, I'm fighting back. Or don't you remember what happened last time you stopped me?"

I bit back the retort I had been planning. I groaned, knowing I'd lost this fight.

"Fine, just...be careful."

She nodded. "Only if you will. Stupefy!"

The Death Eater she had just aimed at leapt out of the way. He turned, saw us, and raised his wand. The two of us leapt out of the bushes and stunned him.

We kept fighting. Lily stunned about three of the Death Eaters and hexed two, and I'd gotten about four.

I was starting to wonder why the heck there weren't any Aurors or Order members arriving to back us up, when Lily shot the mask off f one of them.

"That's Crabbe!" Lily shouted over to me, and I risked a glance over. Sure enough, it was our beloved Slytherin friend.

"Hang on," I heard Lily mutter. "Back me up over here!" she shouted, and headed over to on of the Stunned bodies. I managed to jinx one of the Death Eaters that was aiming at Lily's back, and then I heard Lily shout, "This one's Mulciber! And this one's Parkinson! James, all of these guys are Hogwarts students!"

"Which means, as Head Boy, I'm authorized to do this!" I shouted gleefully, shooting a stinging hex at one of them.

"Actually, it's more like the opposite. You're supposed to give them detention, or take away points, not hurt them," she responded as she used the Bat Bogey hex on another. Then she grinned shyly over at me. "But then again, we're not in school right now."

Merlin, how'd I I get lucky enough to get this girl to be mine?

I turned back to the task at hand. I tried to stun one of the slimy Slytherins, who had been staring at Lily and slowly raising his wand, but he turned and saw me at the last minute. He deflected the spell easily, and fired back a weird spell I'd never seen before. _Oh good, a challenge_, I thought to myself. Then I blocked the spell, and the two of us began to full-out duel.

After about two minute's worth of dueling, Lily intervened and shot Levicorpus at the Slytherin, who, not expecting an attack from the outside, went soaring into the air. His wand fell to the ground. Curious to see my opponent, I reached forward and yanked the mask off him.

"Snivellus," I muttered, disgusted. I'd been fighting the slimiest snake of them all.

He disregarded me completely, and turned to look at _my_ girlfriend. "Lily..."

I glanced nervously at Lily, who stared back at him for a few moments. There was something in her eyes I recognized easily: disappointment. Then she shot a full Body-Bind curse at him.

_That's my girl_, I thought.

After that, fighting the rest of the Slytherins seemed like a breeze. But it still concerned me that no backup had arrived yet. Where _were_ those people?

The moment the last Death Eater-to-be hit the floor, I grinned at Lily. "Nice job."

She grinned back. "Thanks."

I was about to rush over to her, to hug her or snog her senseless or something, but then suddenly I felt my body stiffen. I could see Lily, who was also frozen.

Suddenly, the king snake himself appeared out of the shadows.

He looked around at the damage we'd done. He then smiled cruelly at me. "Nice work, nice work," he poke in a high pitched voice that made me shiver. "I'm impressed."

Suddenly, I felt my head unfreeze. I used this new freedom to glare at him. I probably would have said something demeaning, but frankly, I felt that, frozen as I was, I wasn't much in a position to say anything.

"Good, good, you know when to keep your tongue," Voldemort hissed. "And you're of a good pureblood stock, I see. You'd make a fine Death Eater."

What was I supposed to do, take that as if it _wasn't_ a downright insult?

Please.

"Yeah, and you'd make a fine corpse," I spat. "Why don't you give it a try?"

Amusement flickered in his eyes. "I? A corpse? Ah, but you see, that wouldn't stop me." His voice was calm and even, which irritated me.

"Wouldn't it?" I fired back.

"I take it you aren't going to take me up on my...ah, offer?" he asked, a dangerous look flickering in his eyes.

"What, of becoming one of your slimy followers? Fat chance."

He glared at me for a moment, but then his thin mouth formed a cruel smile. He turned to Lily, who suddenly wobbled in a daze, evidently freed from the spell. She tried to make a sudden dash for her wand, which lay on the ground ten feet from her, but then—

"Crucio!"

* * *

***evil laugh* Cliffhangers. Gotta love 'em.**

**So what'd you think? I know, it's not one of my best. But before you leave me, I wanna ask you something.**

**Should I go back and add a prologue to the beginning of this story? It'll obviously be too late for you guys, but then any new readers can have a prologue. I was thinking of using the fighting scene and ending with the question "Merlin, how'd I get lucky enough...". I'd also leave the scene here, too. Also, if you have a better idea for a prologue, let me know! Anyways, what do you think? Tell me in a review if you think a prologue is a good idea or not!**

**And one more thing: You're going to meet one last animal friend in next chapter's disclaimer! Who do you think it'll be?**


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